Old-School Feminism Isn't Sexist

Feminism: "noun, the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes."

The right to work. That's feminism. The right to vote. That's feminism. Equal education and employment opportunities. That's feminism. Equal pay. That's feminism. Reproductive rights. That's feminism.

Feminism is about equality. It's about women being treated as equals in and out of the home, in and out of the school, in and out of the workplace, in and out of any place where they step foot. In accordance with the law, all men and women should be treated as equals. 

Here's what feminism isn't: feminism isn't seeking vengeance against innocent parties, due to the abuses and inequalities of the past. Feminism isn't seeking privilege over peers. Feminism isn't about power and control just for the sake of power and control.

I'm an old-school feminist. I think it's wrong young women are often discouraged from taking an interest in certain academic studies which would be more profitable to them in the long-run. I think it's unfair women have to work twice as hard as men to even get noticed professionally. I think it's despicable many in business see women as nothing but a pretty face. I think it's unjust women get paid less than men for working the same job, with the same level of efficiency. I think it's criminal male legislators are able to deem what women can and cannot do with their bodies after they become impregnated. While progressions have been made on the women-rights front over the years, we still have a long ways to go - with certain groups actively attempting to regress said progressions (just look at the Supreme Court). Having said that, these new-school "feminists" (I see them as anything but) are doing more harm than good for the cause, and need to seriously reflect, and change their tactics, before the term feminist becomes even more unfairly bastardized than it is today.

Many new-school feminists don't want equality. They want vengeance. They want punishment. They want power. And it doesn't matter how it's attained. I'm sorry, but that's not feminist. If anything, it's antithetical to the cause. 

"Believe all women!" That's not feminist. In yesteryear, women weren't even given the time of day to report alleged cases of sexual improprieties to law enforcement. Hearing them; taking their allegations seriously; thoroughly investigating them; and allowing the evidence/truth to prevail is equality. If a little boy alleged a grown woman fondled him, would we still say, "Believe all women!"? I'd sure hope not. If the woman were physically attractive, would that thereby decrease the potential trauma experienced by the boy? No. Abuse has no gender, so every contention of it should be heard; taken seriously; thoroughly investigated; and proven or disproven through evidence. That's equality.

"Vote all women!" Again, that's not feminist. It's not feminist to go around saying a woman should be elected to public office simply because she's a woman. Is that not what men have been doing for centuries? "Vote for the man! He's not a woman!" It also does a disservice to qualified women running for office. While they may very well take pride in their sex, I have a wild hunch they take just as much pride in their educational and professional accomplishments. That's equality.

Making false accusations of sexual improprieties against men only hurts the cause. Playing solely the gender-card only hurts the cause. Seeming to care more about punishing people in power, with or without just cause, only for the sake of attaining power, over achieving equality, does nothing but hurt the cause. As the definition states, feminism is about equality, and the more these new-school feminists stray away from said definition, the further old-school feminists will need to travel to attain it.