Teenage Feminism Essay

Over the years Feminism has become a bigger and bigger issue, especially among teenage girls. I have seen numerous times on social media, girls ranting about how boys and men are the absolute scum of the earth and they were only brought into this world to suppress women and make their lives miserable. These girls think that they are being feminists and that is what they are labeling themselves as. Thinking this way about men has never been what feminism is about, what these girls are doing and saying is called misandry or the hatred of men. I am not sure how being a feminist turned into hating everything about men, but that is not at all what feminism was intended to do. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary feminism is “the

“This new wave feminism is shaped less by a shared struggle against oppression than by a collective embrace of individual freedoms concerned less with targeting narrowly defined enemies than with broadening feminism’s reach through inclusiveness, and healed together by a handful of national organizations and charismatic leaders but by the invisible bonds of social media” (Sheinin et al.). Teenage girls are easily swayed and influenced by the words of a celebrity, therefore, they tend to follow and live by whatever their favorite female celebrity is saying about women being superior to men. Probably one of the most influential feminists for teenage girls is Beyoncé; “[Her] projection of sexual confidence and self-reliance resonates” (Sheinin et al.) with the younger generation. I know girls that bow down to her and think that she is the greatest advocate for women’s right that has ever lived. To be completely honest the only time I have ever heard anything about feminism from Beyoncé is one verse in her song “Flawless”, that she does not even say. I personally do not believe Beyoncé to be an advocate for women’s rights. Radical feminism is another form of feminism and although they can take extreme measures they are not man haters either. “Radical feminism is a philosophy emphasizing the particular roots of inequality between men and women, or, more specifically, social dominance of women by men” (Lewis).