By Julia Maxman ’16

When women are young, they are encouraged to act like Disney Princesses who are known for their extravagant ballgowns and for waiting for their princes to rescue them. On the other hand, they are also taught about “girl power” and that girls are able to achieve anything boys can. These ideals can conflict because one maintains the stereotype of women being submissive to men, but the latter influences women to defend and work for their equality.

THE MOVEMENT’S ROOTS
This is a simplified version of the modern debate and discussion surrounding feminism, which is broadly defined as the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men. While the rise in the feminist movement has been more prevalent in the last decade, strong independent women fighting for their rights have been present throughout history. The grounds of feminism though, and the principles it preaches have received backlash from “anti feminists.”

The earliest known women that exhibited feminist values date all the way back to Sacajawea, who proved the capabilities of the female mind when leading Lewis and Clark (and holding a baby the whole way). In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a proponent of women’s suffrage and drafted “The Declaration of Sentiments,” one of the first steps in progressing women’s rights. In the early 1900s, Margaret Sanger was one of the first prominent feminists who worked to advocate for the legalization of birth control and opened the first birth control clinic in the United States. By the 1970s, feminist Gloria Steinem promoted abortion and criticized pornography, for the sake of upholding women’s rights. It was women such as Sanger, Stanton and Steinem who were catalysts in this cause.

“I think feminism is taking a positive shift in the past year or two. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, many feminists were often (unfairly) seen as radicals and labeled “feminazis,” history teacher Ms. Blanchard said. “ In the past few years, there has been a more conscious shift to represent feminism as an inclusive group wanting to simply promote equal rights and equal access.”

MODERN FEMINISM
More recently, the movement has been active in designing clothing to showcase the cause, as well as putting forth famous feminist figures to advocate the development of platform. This includes the “This is what a feminist looks like” t-shirt campaign championed by Emma Watson as well as Beyonce’s hit song “Run the World (Girls)” which while catchy, reiterates the message that women can “run the world’ and men “disrespect us, they won’t.”

Feminism in pop culture has been extremely prominent in moving this cause along. Taylor Swift, who connects with women of all ages through her heartfelt and inspirational lyrics claims on feminism that “it simply means you believe women and men should have equal rights and opportunities,” encouraging her fans to believe in themselves and not let gender prejudice hold them back from their dreams. Famous figures such as Swift have given young girls the empowerment they need to stand up for their rights as females.

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

While the feminism platform was formed with the best intentions to advance women in society, some argue that it is beginning to promote a standard other than its original intention. According to The National Review, anti-feminists challenge a “socially engineering society that gives special privileges to women and special punishments to men.”  Now, many believe feminism has transformed into a basis of hypocrisy in which women can play the “blame game.” This dissention is not only evident in culture, but among West Essex’s student body as well. Students here at West Essex also run along the same lines of debate over feminism, with some questioning the current state of the movement’s goals and objectives.

“I’m a fan of the raw notion of feminism, but unfortunately it is not always practiced the way it should be,” senior Marissa Inga said. “Most feminists only want equality, and that’s completely just, but I just can’t stand hypocrisy, and unfortunately there’s a lot of room for it.”

While a feminist fights for equal pay for doing the same work as men, others argue the basis of feminism encourages the dehumanizing of men, a Twitter campaign known as #WomenAgainstFeminism. This trend began because many, including women, believed that feminism was hypocrisy in that while women are demanding equal rights, it is still an expectation that women should be “treated like ladies.” According to the Women Against Feminism Facebook page, the rationale for this anti-feminism movement is that feminists are playing the “victim card” and should fight their own battles without oppressing men. However though, this does not stop the driving force of feminism.

“I think feminism is important for women and I think more people need to be aware of its effects,” junior Molly Neal said.

Regardless of whether one promotes the actual cause of “feminism,” the equality of women is a movement that has been ongoing for centuries and will continue until the status of men and women will be equal politically, in regard to their pay as well as on a social level. While the true basis of feminism remains controversial, women’s rights is still a prominent cause worth bringing to the forefront.