"FEMINISM IS JUST AN EXTREME WAY OF SAYING WOMEN ARE BETTER THAN MEN"

Illustrated by Melissa

On Monday, Melissa and I presented an assembly to our year group (year 11) on feminism. It was an opportunity for us, as feminists, to  introduce our year group to the movement. Delivering this assembly was very important to us as we had taken it upon ourselves to teach others about a very large part of our lives that is also relevant to theirs, teachers included.


To start the assembly we asked ‘what do you think feminists are working to achieve and who are they doing this for?’ We received a range of answers, some were spot-on while others less so. Only four minutes into the assembly and we were told:

"I’m not sure what feminism is, but my mum told me that it is just an extreme way of saying women are better than men"

It took the both of us by surprise, for sure, and a mighty lot of self-restraint to stop ourselves from turning the whole assembly into a 'stupid-things-people-say-about-feminism' rant. But upon reflection, we realised that it is not our classmate who is at fault, we could not blame her for telling us all she knew. The generations prior to ours have taught their sons and daughters the stereotypical and generic answer for ‘what is feminism?’ an answer which is negative and dismissive. Not because they're all closed minded misogynists (emphasis on the all), but because the majority haven't been taught any different- we tell what we are told, right? Throughout the past feminists haven't had the best reputation, whether they're jumping in front of horses or demanding more money, feminists were just 'whinier than your average woman'.Therefore we must be careful not to blame our teachers, our parents or even our grandparents; as it is our duty, as members of our society, to teach each other the importance of feminism and ensure that it's history and value is fully understood and appreciated by those among us.

Feminism isn't an anti-male, hetero-hating, bra-burning, ball-breaking, religion-shaming cult.
Feminism is the belief in equality, a movement for all people, a chance to change things for the better.
Feminism can be anything you want it to be.

Just as I am allowed to have my own beliefs, so are others. There is no right or wrong way of thinking as long as it's informed and open minded.

Posted by Bea