Dear people who reject feminism,
I am a female senior in high school. I plan on going to college next year, possibly studying nursing or something else in the medical field. Both of my parents are divorced and either remarried or engaged. I have two brothers, three step-brothers, and a step sister. Almost all of my cousins are boys, so I know how even my own family treats boys differently than they treat the girls in the family. My interest in this matter stems from growing up around all boys and a very small number of girls, and having my own father tell me that girls soccer isn’t a real sport because girls don’t play sports.
I was raised by a strong single mother who worked and put herself through beauty school with little help from anyone else. My grandmother is a strong woman who believes that she can make a change in the world which is why she ran for state representative twice, but lost to a man in the republican party twice. She still continues to make progress through being a union representative.
Some may believe that feminism is women wanting to be better than men, wanting to be held at a higher pillar than me, but as John Legend said, “all men should be feminists, If men care about women's rights the world will be a better place.” So men can also be feminists because it’s not only women who believe in human rights. When the only thing feminists want is to be held to the same pillar as the men in their community. As many know women make eighty cents to the dollar that men make, and that is white women. Women of color generally make less than eighty cents. Why do women make less money men? Most people who reject feminism believe it’s because women are emotional messes because of our hormones. Every single person has hormones, even men, so why is it okay to blame estrogen on women not being paid as much men when men have the hormone of testosterone which increases aggression. According to the people who reject feminism, aggression in the workplace is better than softness, but the argument that softness is worse than aggression is untrue because woman can be as tough if not tougher than men.
Feminism doesn’t just focus on unfair wages, but other rights that are not equal between men and women. The idea that women do things not for themselves but for men, and the idea that rape is her fault and not the person who rapes her. These are not just women's rights that are being stepped on, but human’s rights are being stepped on. Women have as many rights as men do, but only if people stop stepping on the rights of women to get where they need to go. As Cheris Kramarae said, “Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” People who reject feminism usually see women as baby makers and house wives, when really women should be allowed to be whoever they want to be.
Another problem that is holding feminism back is women tearing other women down.Tearing someone else down to make yourself feel better is not something that should be done. When women treat other women like something they just scraped off the bottom of their shoe, that’s when there’s a real problem because women should be on each others teams. They should lift each other up, and help fight for their equal rights. It is important that not only women, but people in minority groups have all the same rights as white men do because the rights that are not equal or are denied to certain people are not menial things, but are actually denials of human rights. Girls in future generations shouldn’t feel oppressed or as if they have to do or say a certain thing to make other people happy. A girl should not have to hear her own father say that she can’t play sports because girls don’t play sports. Girls in future generations should be raised as strong women who know they can do whatever they put their minds to, and be whatever they want to be.
Sincerely, A Strong Woman
