Feminist Argumentative Essay

Who is a feminist? A feminist is anyone who believes that women and men should have equal social, political and economic rights. Feminists are constantly working to get rid of outdated gender stereotypes, eradicate the wage gap, break the glass ceiling and transform the old patriarchal society into a modern, equal world. Notice that this definition does not state that a feminist is a woman. Think about it - you don’t have to be black to support the #Blacklivesmatter movement, you don’t need to be Muslim to speak out against Islamophobia, and straight, cisgender people can be allies to LGBTQ+ individuals. Likewise, there is really no reason why men can’t be feminists. Even if it has been established that gender has no bearing on an individual’s ability and right to identify as a feminist, there is a common belief in society that men have less reasons than women to stand up for gender equality. After all, they’re not usually the ones getting the short end of the stick - what could possibly make a man feel compelled to join the feminist movement? However, what many people fail to recognize is that patriarchy is not only hurting women; it is harmful to men, too.

A common way of mocking a boy is to tell them that they “throw/kick/hit/any other action like a girl”, as though weakness and femininity are synonymous. Misogyny doesn’t only dictate that women are inferior to men; it also promotes the idea that any and all ‘feminine’ traits are inherently worse than ‘masculine’ traits. Not only does sexism oppress women, it also tells males that they need to be the stereotypical epitome of masculinity - dominant, emotionless and aggressive - in order to be respectable men. Feminism, a movement dedicated to eliminating misogyny, works against this idea that all ‘real men’ must fit into one hyper-masculine