Feminism - Georgia Whitefield

Feminism  

Most people in the world would consider that we are all equal human beings and all have the same rights. Wrong. The female population are still struggling for rights that men have already been granted, equal pay, the right to wear whatever we want without being shamed into stereotypes like being a slut or the common one ‘ she’s asking for it’.

The words feminism and feminist are commonly misused and misinterpreted. The correct definition of feminism is: a collection of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal and social rights for women (wikipedia). It’s not a word to describe somebody who hates men  and it certainly not is not a word that people should be afraid of identifying themselves as.

In the USA ( 2015) women are approximately half of the workforce and still only payed 77% of what the average white male would earn for the same workload. Research from the U.S Census Bureau has proven that African American women will earn 65 cents and Latina women will earn 56 cents to every dollar a white male will earn in the US, not only does this prove that sexism is still happening racism also.

In New Zealand women are lucky we all have rights that are fair, but in some countries women don't have those privileges. In some countries women are treated like dirt and animals, they are second class citizens who deserve what they get in those countries point of view. In example Saudi Arabian women are forbidden to drive a car, leave her home without a male companion, and the one I find appalling is women who are raped by a male will be charged in court and put in jail for the crime that was committed against them.

Girls and women this day and age are still struggling to not be looked at as sexual beings and objects. This perception of the female population is caused by media, celebrities, songs and social media. One of the recent examples of this is in the Song ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams. There has been a massive saga about the song and its music video. Thicke and Williams have been ordered to pay Marvin Gaye 7.3 million US dollars because of plagiarism, also the song has been banned in 20 countries due to its sexism, discriminating lyrics and exploiting young women due to them being forced to be naked in the video.

Society and politics are the real reason for sexism and the reason why we aren't all equal in the world. There are solutions that could change the world for the with such a simple thing like giving women the right to drive a car or leave her house without having a man with her. Gender equality is possible with people supporting the cause and believing that a change can be made. 

Beyonce once said that “ We need to stop buying into the myth of gender equality. It’s not a reality…….Yet Today women are 50% of Americas work force but yet the only earn 77% of what an average working man earns for the same job. But unless men and women both say it’s unacceptable nothing will ever change.