Feminist Over Time Essay

Being a Feminist over time has gotten a negative connotation. Many people hear the world “feminist” and think “aggressive man hater” or “lesbian”. Just think back to the speech Katy Perry gave where she stated, "I am not a feminist, but I do believe in the strength of women" which made a lot of people angry. I will admit that before I was fully informed of what feminism was, I too thought it was a negative title to give yourself. Society has created this negative view of feminism in order to keep things the same. Feminisms real definition is a person who believes in equal rights for all people, men and women, majority and minority, and gay, bisexual, or straight. Women throughout history have fought for the equal rights of men and women. According to an article of AAUW, in 2016 women working full time in the United States were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 20 percent. But that is progress compared to what we dealt with around the 1960s

It is having a voice and standing up for yourself in a society where men are valued higher. I have definitely seen improvement in my lifetime with the rise of women in education and the work field but we can’t stop until we have full equality or else we will never achieve it. No woman is perfect, and I think we need to accept people for who they are more than we praise an edited photo of them looking “perfect” on social media. This should start with people with a fan base and a voice, to stand up regardless of what anyone thinks, care about education as much as you care about looks, and empower other women to be the best that they can. I will leave with a quote that I feel describes Feminism and really impacted me, “Any word that is feared has power- and when a woman gives up her power, you have to question if she truly knows her