Women Against Feminism don't understand feminism...

I am a feminist. Why? Because I believe in the total equality of men and women regardless of class, race or location. Most people have probably seen posts from whoneedsfeminism.tumblr.com, an array of women declaring why they believe they do need feminism today.

There have been jokes made about this blog. There have been plenty of men going on about how feminism is a bunch of bullshit. That’s bad enough. But now, women are joining in. This comes in the form of womenagainstfeminism.tumblr.com –

What occurs to me most here is that most of these women do not really appear to understand feminism or the real position of women in various societies across the globe. They seem to forget that without feminism, all women would probably have to give birth and rely on their husbands, women would not have the right to vote. The reason women have so many rights today is because of the work of feminism in the past.

For a second, let’s just look at some of the points on this tumblr and address them properly.

Equal Rights exist

Really? Governments around the world are still dominated by men which means that in many countries, the majority of power lies with men. Women are blamed for their sexual assaults because of the way they dress. Women are still expected to look and act a certain way. Men still feel some entitlement to our bodies. That does not sound like equality to me.

Helpless Victim Cult

There appears to be a lot of this talk on this particular tumblr blog. I have to disagree with the idea that feminism tries to tell women they are weak and need help. As far as I can see, feminism does the opposite. It aims to make women feel strong and use their strength in a movement to change things for all women.

Rape Culture does not exist

Okay, the very fact that there are constant cases of women being blamed for their own rape because of what they are wearing shows that rape culture does indeed exist. We do live in a world that teaches women how to avoid being raped and hands out personal attack alarms rather than teaching men about consent.

I don’t believe in promoting slut/whore behavior to be healthy. 

Seriously?! Feminism does not promote “slut/whore” behaviour. It tells women that they are allowed to have consensual sex whenever they want with whoever they wish to. It is not about telling women to sleep around. It is about giving women a choice to do so if they want to, letting them know that it is okay to have sex outside of a relationship.

Feminists are jealous of other women who receive more male attention than them

I do not even feel like I need to articulate a proper response to this. It’s just another example of how ridiculous some of these anti-feminist arguments are.

So to those who believe what this blog is saying, go away and read something. All of this seems to be purely based on their experience of feminists through tumblr. You cannot base views based on one group of feminists on one website. Yes, some women who claim to be feminists on tumblr are extreme. They do want supremacy over men. But what about the rest? It’s not the case.

Most feminists I know do not hate men as a gender. They might hate particular men. Mostly, they just want to live in a world where they can walk down the street without being cat-called. They want to know that if they do get raped, justice will be served. They want to have choices. It is true that women in the western world have more rights than in other parts of the world. This does not mean we cannot try to pave the way for change in other countries. It does not mean we cannot continue to set an example for the rest of the world. Maybe if we gain full equality, other women in other countries will see that it is possible. Surely that is a cause worth fighting for. In short, just because your life and experience of men has been good does not mean everyone else’s is! So surely it's better to try and help other women who haven't been as fortunate as you...

Feminism is not about ignoring men. It is simply about helping women. Throughout history, men have had the power. They have had the control. Most feminists do not want to get rid of men or take away their rights. They just want to have those rights for all women. We do not all hate men. We hate the way that the world works, the way that men are seen as superior a lot of the time.

Instead of ploughing through tumblr for examples of feminism, open some books, read some news articles, go to some conferences. Learn about feminism in the real world. Remember what it has achieved already. Be aware of the real aims it has. Remember that some feminists are more radical than others. There are always extremists in movements. Stop basing your views on a few people behind keyboards because they do not represent the whole movement.

Dear past feminists...

There's been this whole women against feminism thing emerging online lately and it sucks. They do not seem to understand feminism. They make awful assumptions and base their views on only extreme "feminists." But worst of all, there are women who seem to forget the incredible achievements of past feminists so here is an open letter, a reminder of all that feminism has done so far.

Dear past feminists,

Thank you for giving your time and energy and power to such an important cause. Thank you for fighting for women's rights across the world.

Modern women owe you more than they might realise. Thanks to your battle, we now have a choice. Most countries supply women with contraception so that we can decide if and when to have children. There are still issues in some cultures but those of us lucky enough to have access owe you thanks. For the protests and petitions and pushing for laws to change.

Women can vote. Sure, governments can be corrupt and useless. But a hundred years ago, women did not have the ability to vote. Now, we do. I, personally, think that is amazing. Today's women must remember all you did for us to gain the vote.

Oh and we do not have to be wives and mothers now. We have options. We can go out and get jobs. We can provide for ourselves. Again, thanks to the feminists of the past from across the globe. We have access the education, to university. You'll probably be sad to hear that many women forget that this is a privilege, that 40 years ago, the world was not like this. Thanks to the battle of feminists, we can live more free lives.

Okay, so equal pay isn't quite here yet and some countries have a long way to go. Women still get blamed for their own rape, still get judged based on their appearance. There's still work to do. But, us modern feminists, are eternally grateful for the work you put in to make things better for all women. Sure the movement has some issues, just like it always has, but we will not stop talking and shouting until equality is reached.

We will not keep reminding those women who are "against" feminism that they ought to remember that without it, they would not have access to education/contraception/jobs like they do. That they need to educate themselves on issues before bitching about us. 

And yes, we're still mostly seen as man-hating, hairy lesbians but understanding is spreading and it won't stop.

Thank you.