Stereotypes Of Feminism

Gross armpit hair. Hippie motives. Bad hygiene. Bra burners. Manly. All of these are stereotypes of what feminism is made out to be. Feminism is more than these stereotypes and it can be shown through successful attempts made by the public. When looking at the aforementioned stereotypes, it is simple to get annoyed by the topic when most of the conversations turn into people shunning the supporters or feeling angry about the need to have total equality. The problem with spreading feminism is that it all gets to be too much and people get grossed out. Society is so focused on how certain aspects of feminism appear that the point of equality does not get out. If I were being labeled as a dirty hippie or a bra burner, I would most likely not follow through with the points that should have been getting out. The stereotypes drag down the cause when in reality, many successful movements have spread the news of feminism without being so gross and unusual. Today, getting a point across has proven to not be successful because people are too narrow-minded. When women begin to dye their armpit hair, for a reason that is not clear unless it is researched, society tends to turn away… completely missing the point that is being made. What is the point? If people have to Google the point
of a trend, the trend is not working the way it was most likely intended. The trend of dying the armpit hair of women has been shared by people such as Miley Cyrus. Ms. Cyrus is a woman who is known to do things for show instead of for the beauty of things. It’s one thing to be one with Mother Nature and to be able to express beauty at its most natural state; however, it is another thing to express “beauty” in the most extreme form causing a spectacle to see that turns people away from the actual cause. Beauty at its most natural state has been expressed previously with women breastfeeding in public. The action of breastfeeding has been deemed as something that all-natural, hippie moms do until their children are six. Why is that? Women have been created to provide for their children, and yet, it is seen as something that should be hidden. “Hippies” are not the only women who have breastfed in public and society chooses to ignore that fact. Many acts done that have caused spectacles have also been performed by successful women who work nine to five jobs. Growing out armpit hair naturally, breastfeeding in public, and speaking out for equality for men and women have all been done by successful women who are seen to be role models for society. The difference between the two; though, is that the successful women do not go above and beyond to have the points out and about. By simply growing out the hair that is naturally supposed to be grown and by providing nutrients for a child, a “prosperous” woman will be seen as influential and as a positive role model. The “all-natural” women that are trending go to the extreme and dye the naturally grown hair (which damages that grown out hair anyway) and breastfeed fully exposed in public (where it maybe should be a little censored for the sake of privacy). That is when a problem begins. Expressing natural beauty that deserves equality and manipulating that beauty to be something worth looking at to be grossed out and confused by are completely different and it is a quite unfortunate situation. There are ways around the “disturbing” trends and actions.
There are ways to have working movements that can be done by the “hippie” women as well as the “successful” women. Those ways come from just expressing a thought in its meekest form without having any strays from the true topic being expressed. Women such as Malala and the women of the Women’s Suffrage Movement may have been natural women or they may have been respected women with a high sense of pride. The point is, nothing gross or disturbing had to be done for the voice of equality to be heard. When an action does not have to be Googled to be understood, that is when natural beauty and art have been realized to the fullest
capacity. No, dying the grown out armpit hair is not the best way to ask for equality in the world. The growing of the hair for women is not quite accepted yet, so why make it more extreme and hard to understand? Instead, women should grow their naturally placed hair to feel empowered. Women should breastfeed with respect to their own bodies as well as to people in public in order to express the natural gift given to women to use without needing to feel ashamed or have people grossed out. The next time that something outrageous is done to spread the word of equality for men in women, try to not judge it right away, but rather look at the big picture and try to understand the points being made. Not everyone is trying to make things weird or uncomfortable, some people actually have thoughts of becoming equal and sharing the same viewpoints under the same sun.