What Does It Mean To Be A Feminist Today?

What does it mean feminist? According to the definition of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), feminism has two meanings:

1. Principle of equality of the rights of women and men.
2. Fighting movement for the effective realization of feminism in all areas.

The word feminism comes from Latin feminism and emerged at the end of the 19th century. The origin of the concept comes from Latin and is formed by femina, which means woman, and the suffix isme.

Feminism was not formally established as a social and political movement until the end of the 18th century, although without yet adopting this name. Within the general framework of the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, a series of women began to organize themselves in women’s clubs. claim your rights and equality between both sexes. This is the first wave of feminism although it is considered that it was more an awareness by women of their inequality than an organized movement itself.

Later, in the United States and Europe, the call second wave of feminism, spanning from the mid-19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. This current focuses on the demand for a series of rights in the areas of politics, education, property and marriage. Standing out in this wave are suffragettes who fought for women’s right to vote.

Finally, during the 60s and 70s the so-called third wave of feminism, also nicknamed the women’s liberation movement. The demands of this period focus on the performance of roles beyond the traditional one assigned to women, the sexual and reproductive rights real equality in all areas and spheres of life and the abolition of patriarchy.

It is worth clarifying that although the feminist movement dates back to the 18th century, throughout history there have always been women who have fought and claimed their rights, but it was constituted in a formal and organized way in the Enlightenment. On the other hand, this is the history of feminism from a limited European hegemonic and Western perspective is not representative of other cultures and continents.

In this article, you can see more information about the history and currents of feminism.

On more than one occasion, the true meaning of feminism has been misinterpreted or distorted as a mechanism to discredit and with the aim of illegitimizing this movement. Therefore, below we define and explain what it means to be a feminist and what it means to be a sexist.

Machismo is an ideology that defends and justifies the superiority and domination of men over women It is the ideology that corresponds to the patriarchal system and is based on sexism, that is, on the assignment of stereotypes, roles and attributes based on sex. Therefore, in general terms, being sexist is having attitudes, speeches and actions that result in discrimination and oppression of women. The manifestations of machismo are multiple and range from humor, sexist language, humiliation, contempt, etc., to threats, abuse, attacks and murder.

In this article we talk in depth about what it means to be sexist.

Instead, Feminism refers to the social and political movement that involves raising awareness among women of oppression and domination that they have been subjected to throughout history by the patriarchal system, which is based on the predominance of men over women, so there is a tendency to action with the objective of liberating their sex, resorting to the transformations of society that are necessary to achieve it.

So, when asked “why be a feminist?” We can answer that being a feminist is essentially being aware of the current system of discrimination against women and fighting to change this situation. Therefore, Feminism and machismo are not two comparable terms, since broadly speaking the first of them consists of the search for equality between both sexes, while the second supposes the superiority of men. In the next section, we will look more specifically at the characteristics of feminism.

Today, although equal rights or formal equality for women have been achieved in many countries, there is no so-called real equality, since women continue to experience discrimination, oppression and various types of violence in different countries. aspects of your life and on a daily basis.

There are no rules about how to be a feminist today; There are women who practice feminism in their family and friendship circle, others who practice it without calling themselves feminists, others from the academic field, another part through activism and militancy, another sector through their jobs, etc. However, the common trait among all of these women is the goal of building a just society in which no woman from any part of the world is considered or treated as inferior for the simple fact of belonging to the female sex. Likewise, women are constituted as political and social subjects, protagonists and active in the transformation of the system. At present it is worth asking: what are the challenges of feminism in the 21st century? What do feminists want? Some of the objectives and challenges of current feminism are the following:

• Visibility and struggle against all mechanisms of oppression of women and sexist violence in all its manifestations, as well as against feminicide. There is still pending the expansion of the concept of sexist violence beyond the violence that occurs within the couple, as well as the inclusion of sexual violence as gender violence.
• End of taxation of reproductive work to women based on their sex, revaluation and remuneration of this, as well as demand for co-responsibility in all areas.
• Vindication of female sexuality control over one’s own bodies, breaking the menstruation taboo and education in conscious menstruation.
• Right not to be a mother, free and desired motherhood and the need to rethink and rethink alternative motherhoods beyond the assigned roles.
• Construction of knowledge or epistemology of women and feminists against the prevailing androcentrism. Recovery of women’s memory and history in the face of women’s need for feminine references.
• Need for coeducation from childhood this type of education is proposed as a tool for the growth of egalitarian values ​​and respect for new generations.
• Vindication of lesbianism, bisexuality and the LGTBI community as well as deconstruction of the heteronormative system.
• Rejection of reification and sexual exploitation of women through pornography, prostitution, surrogacy, beauty standards, etc.
• Awareness of the entire society about discrimination against women and the involvement of all sectors of the population.
• Identity construction of women beyond gender roles and stereotypes, which must be abolished.
• Sorority as a weapon It is one of the most prominent characteristics of current feminism, which is why the need to create alliances and generate a support network among all is claimed with the aim of achieving a collective empowerment It is based on the recognition between women as political subjects belonging to the same collective. Since the patriarchal system is a global system, the fight and eradication of it has to be global. This weaving of solidarities between women, this Brotherhood has been facilitated by social networks and technology, which allow contact and the exchange of experiences, ideas and knowledge from various geographical locations.
• Intersectionality: One of the challenges of the contemporary feminist movement is intersectionality, that is, the breakdown of the unique female subject (white, Western, heterosexual, middle class) as representative of all women and their oppressions. Hegemonic, Western white feminism must recognize and renounce its privileges within this struggle and take into account all types of oppression beyond gender that affect the rest of women. The goal of intersectional feminism is the construction of a movement that is based on the existence of different discourses, experiences and needs on the part of diverse groups of women, among which alliances are created.

However, within the current feminist movement there are also various currents such as liberal, radical and abolitionist. In the following article you will find more information about the Types of feminism that exist today.

What does it mean to be liberal?

Liberal feminism is the individualist current of feminism that defines the situation of women as inequality. Therefore, his fight focuses on achieving equality between men and women through the laws and rights of society, through their reform.

It has been criticized that this current ignores the various oppressions and discriminations of other women who do not have white, heterosexual and class privilege, which is why it focuses only on a sector of women and their specific interests. In fact, liberalism and feminism are considered to be incompatible, which is why the concept of a liberal feminist is questioned today.

What does it mean to be a radical feminist?

Radical feminism is the current of this movement that describes the situation of women as a oppression and exploitation Locate the causes or roots of this in the patriarchal system, so the objective of radical feminists is the abolition of it in order to achieve the liberation of women, which also implies the abolition of the sex-gender system. For this reason, this type of feminism does not believe that legislative reform is sufficient to achieve its objective, since it considers the existence of mechanisms of oppression from all areas of society, that is, they conceive of structural and systematic violence.

Meaning of abolitionist feminist

Regarding the issue of prostitution, there is currently an internal debate and dilemma in the feminist movement. Abolitionist feminism considers that prostitution is based on and reinforces the idea of ​​availability of female bodies at male whim and the stereotyping of women as sexual objects that can be commodified. On the other hand, they claim that it contributes to rape culture and denial of female desire and sexuality. In addition, they denounce trafficking and its relationship with prostitution, as well as sexual exploitation of both children and adults. This current focuses on policies that allow the rehabilitation and support for prostituted women, as well as the offer of life alternatives. On the other hand, it focuses on prevention and intervention throughout society with the aim of ending the demand for prostitution.

Role of men

Another debate within current feminism is the role that men should play in the feminist struggle. This movement and being a man are not incompatible, in fact there are feminist men in the history who have defended women’s rights, such as François Poullain de la Barre, Frederick Douglass or Eduardo Galeano.

Nowadays the necessary and vital role of man is recognized as partner in the feminist struggle It is a role of awareness, accompaniment, solidarity and support in the face of the active, central and leadership role of women, who are the ones who decide how to focus the struggle and its forms. Therefore, compared to the leading role of women in their struggle, that of men would be basic and necessary but secondary, which is why on many occasions we choose to call feminist men as feminist allies. Among others, the responsibility and tasks of men in current feminism are the awareness of other men and the rejection of any manifestation of violence on their part, as well as the break with the traditional model of masculinity and the construction of alternative schemes.

Within the history of feminism and the current feminist movement there are a series of feminist women that have become fight icons and they have been known and recognized for their participation and contributions to feminism, some of them are:

• Famous first-wave feminists: Mary Wollstonecraft, Olympe de Gouges, and Harriet Taylor Mill.
• Famous Second Wave Feminists: Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin, and Emmeline Pankhurst
• Famous third wave feminists: Simone de Beauvoir, bell hooks and Kate Millet.

And you, do you consider yourself a feminist? You can take and give your opinion in this feminist test.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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