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Feminism misunderstood

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Feminism misunderstood
Feminism: The advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

Feminists, whether they are men or women, are supposed to be fighting for the equality of women, not the removal of men.

Burning bras and shaming men are not the qualities of a true feminist. People of our generation seem to believe a true feminist is a woman who believes in over throwing men and obtaining female supremacy. Stereotypes like these are what give feminism a bad reputation and obscure the views of those oblivious to inequality.

Freshman Caroline Barber believes that the point of feminism is for women to move up on a social role, becoming equal with men.

“Feminism is not about women over throwing men so much as it is about the destruction of gender roles that don’t benefit anyone,” Barber said.

Feminism, in the eyes of sophomore Roxy Brown, is common sense and should be embraced by everyone.

“Feminism is still needed,” Brown said. “ I hate the way society treats women. I get honked at and cat called while I walk down the road.”

Brown explains that all those people want are reactions, so she just ignores them, or, in times of annoyance, yells “screw you”.

To fight back peacefully at how “unfair” society treats women, Brown recently started to publish zines. Zines are mini magazines that are self-published, so Brown can put whatever she feels like writing in them.

Brown has also started to notice others doing “slut walks” to get fight back against victim blaming for rape victims.

“I hate it when people say ‘poor boys, their lives are ruined’,” Brown said. “ How wrong is that? Those kinds of people don’t even deserve to breathe. Rape is the rapists fault.”

Though efforts are being made to help feminism grow, Brown and Barber still believe adults and teens alike are still oblivious to inequality.

“The only thing we can do,” Brown said. “Is try to educate people on what feminism really is.”

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