Emily Modrowski: What feminists shouldn’t be

What is a feminist?

Let’s start off with saying what they aren’t: they’re not frightening, gross monster-women who’ve come to kill men in the night. There seems to be a stigma attached to the word “feminist” that sees it as a woman who’s off her rocker and who hates all men and everything to do with them. A feminist is sometimes seen as a hairy ogre who despises razors and lipstick.

This might be because the only feminists you hear about in the media are the extremists - the ones who are stirring up a ruckus: the ones people tend to think are “crazy.” An article on dailymail.co.uk talks about two “feminists” who stormed a Paris runway topless during Paris Fashion Week.

When I heard about it on social media, I thought to myself, “This isn’t feminism.” Those models in the show had their runway debut ruined by a couple women who thought they were preaching for all women against the fashion industry. But they were really only speaking for what they believe.

Any of those models could be feminists while still taking fashion seriously. By shaming the models for doing their job and doing what they love, those two women really aren’t feminists.

Women-hating women - that’s not feminism. It is merely a made-up perception put into my and other young girls’ heads to scare us away from supporting gender equality.

Certain women don’t want to be associated with this kind of feminism, and unfortunately that makes us girls lose a few more vital allies in our fight for equality.

To me, feminists should be people who support each other and strive for gender equality.

A woman shaming other women because they wear make-up is not feminism. Shaming other women for choosing to have a family instead of focusing on their career is not a feminist. I love shoes, and putting on make-up is part of my daily routine, but I still believe in gender equality.

If there is a feminist out there who doesn’t like to shave her armpits, fine, but does that mean to believe in feminism I have to throw away my razors? Of course not. A feminist can be any person you walk by on the street - man or woman.

Some men are afraid of feminists, and I think it’s because they’re afraid of being one-upped by the gender they find inferior. Gender equality calls for both sexes to be equal in all facets of life. Some may say that everyone is equal - yeah right. Tell me that when we earn the same amount of money for the same job. An article from Forbes magazine says women earn roughly 77 cents to a man’s earned dollar.

If I am assertive and try to get what I want, I’d rather not have the men behind me snicker and whisper about how it’s probably “that time of the month.” When men are assertive, they are praised and seen as hard workers. There is still a huge difference in how men and women are perceived in the workplace.

I think it’s important to remember that feminism isn’t all about women running around topless with hateful words toward men painted on their bodies. It’s about women coming together and fighting to be equal with men. It’s about moving forward. We need to stand together for one thing, and not allow ourselves to be persuaded into believing we shouldn’t be feminists.

Emily Modrowski is a first-year majoring in communication.