Feminism Misconceptions

Hello!

As many of you are aware Feminism is something I strongly support and I’m proud to call myself a feminist.

However whenever I see debates about feminism, it shocks me how many misconceptions people seem to have about feminism.

Whilst I touched upon feminism misconceptions briefly in a previous post about feminism (blog post HERE: http://petiteseverina.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/feminism-what-it-means-to-me.html ) I want to go into more detail this time.

Here are some of the most common misconceptions about feminism:

All feminists hate men, WRONG: This is probably one of the biggest misconceptions about feminism. The feminist movement ISN’T about hating men but being equal to men and overcoming sexism. I’m a feminist and I don’t hate men, in fact quite a few of my friends are guys.

However having said this, there is a tiny minority of feminists who are “anti-men”, these are radical feminists, which I also touched upon in my previous post. Radical feminism is quite an extreme version of feminism (but that goes the same for any group in society), as they believe men and women should live separately and patriarchal lesbianism is the way forward (trust me I know what I’m on about, I spent 2 years studying all the different types of feminism in sociology)

Feminism is about women being better than men, WRONG: Just because the movement is called “feminism”, it doesn’t mean women want to be better than men. In fact, what most women want is to have equal rights as men and to be treat as equals to men. It’s not about overthrowing men but achieving gender inequality. As Emma Watson kindly pointed out, “feminism, by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities”.

Feminists don’t want to get married/ don’t believe in marriage, WRONG: I’m a feminist yet later in life I would like to be married at some part. Yes a part of feminism is about being an independent women and not “relying” on a man, but it’s important to remember this is to do with changes in society. During the 1960’s women were expected to get married, stay at home doing housework and look after the children. However that’s now changed and women are now focusing on getting a career and being financially independent. Additionally feminists DO believe in marriage, they DON’T believe in unequal marriages where one person is dominant.

Feminism is just for women, WRONG: Feminism isn’t exclusively for women! Anyone can be a feminist regardless of their gender, as feminism is about including everybody. If you believe in equal rights for both men and women, then YOU ARE a feminist. Plus, it’s a great thing that men support feminism and don’t see it as a bad thing as this helps to reduce gender inequalities further.

I hope I’ve managed to clear up some of the misconceptions people have about feminism. Are there any feminist misconceptions you’ve heard of that haven’t been mentioned?