Today I am a Feminist

We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls: ‘You can have ambition, but not too much.You should aim to be successful, but not too successful, otherwise, you will threaten the man.’ Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is most important. Now, marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support. But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don't teach boys the same? We raise girls to see each other as competitors, not for jobs or for accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing. But for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys areChimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Feminism to me is the political, social, and economic equality of the sexes. As a feminist, these types of teachings and expectations should be equal of men and women. Cultural objectification, biblical sexism, and staying home vs. working moms highly affect women.There are so many examples of females being objectified and dehumanized in media. It’s in music, advertisements, the news, billboards, movies, radio, and the biggest one of all, the internet.If people continue to support this type of objectification then it will continue to happen. We do have the power to change what is seen and heard.

Another topic affecting women today is biblical sexism. Religious and nonreligious people think that the bible and God are sexist. They then try to prove their point with verses from the bible. The bible tells us to teach men and women to treat people the way we would treat God but many people leave out the equality part. Many people try to use sexism and the bible as fact when they actually decontextualize it to fit their needs and their point. The bible cannot prove that women are supposed to be under men and men are supposed to be over women. If women knew that there could be so much more done in their life to make it better and that they could have a lasting impact on this world, there would be more social equality.

Today staying home vs. working moms are of high critical importance. Women are taught to make their life choices knowing they one day they will be under a man. These teachings are what causes inequality of the sexes. Women should be able to be as successful as they would like to be. It is not fair for us to have a limit on how successful we can be.Most women are treated as tender and weak. This is not a bad thing but men aren’t taught the same. Black women are portrayed as strong and assertive because they have been working. Society thinks that it is immoral for a woman to be strong and assertive. This thinking is one of the reasons why black women are looked down upon as unfavorable in society.Women should be able to have equal working rights as men. Unlimited success is something both men and women should have in order to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Today I am a feminist! Race, class, and discrimination play a big part in equality because American history has always revolved and has been structured around inequality. It is difficult to separate from this type of thinking and these customs that America was built off of but, we can work little by little to equality. We have to believe and act in the direction of equality!

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