Feminism in Society Today

Bell Hooks defines feminism as "a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression." Feminism does not state that men are the enemy, nor that females are the only ones who can be feminists. "Practically, it is a definition which implies that sexist thinking and action is the problem, whether those who perpetuate it are female or male, child or adult," (Hooks 1). In today's society, people throw around the word "feminist," unaware of what it really means. People have so many negative stereotypes associated with feminism, when in reality everyone, male or female, has at least some feminist beliefs.





Many people think that feminism is the belief that women are better than men, when in reality it is very different. Men are not the enemy in feminism; females can have sexist thoughts against their own gender. Bell Hooks says, "Sisterhood could not be powerful as long as women were competitively at war with one another." Ultimately, this means that women cannot expect men to think of them as equal and treat them the way that they would like, if women have sexists beliefs against women themselves. This ties in with a quote from one of my favorite movies, Mean Girls; "You all have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and whores."

Obviously, there are many differences between males and females that make it impossible for the two genders to be one hundred percent equal in every aspect of life; but that should not take away from the power and importance that women have in the world today. In The Woman Warrior, Kingston can only be in a position of power when she is disguised as a man. Although she is the best warrior in her area, she will only be taken seriously if she is a male, and unable to be a warrior if she is a female. As a child she was told that she could only grow up to be a wife or a slave. Luckily, our culture today is moving away from that. Now males and females can both serve in war, and many females are taking on jobs that have been considered to be "men's jobs" in the past. We may still have a way to go, but fortunately, society is moving in a positive direction for female equality.