Have you ever found yourself wondering why the concept of feminism isn’t called “equalism” or “humanism” since it’s about equality for the sexes? I mean, why does it associate itself with just females? Shouldn’t we be striving for a more equal society instead of female superiority?
The answer is yes, obviously. I am an intersectional feminist and I’m here to explain why feminism is called “feminism.” There are a lot of misconceptions about what it is to be a feminist in today’s society. There are lots of different branches, such as Marxist Feminism, Intersectional Feminism, Liberal Feminism, Radical Feminism etc, even “white/western” feminism, which I find to be absolutely absurd.
Here’s the thing – the concept of “Humanism” is something entirely different to feminism itself, it’s not even necessarily about gender. It was created during the Renaissance (I did my research) when new, fresh ideas were being brought up in society and Europe was going through a revolution of thought. The definition of Humanism regards the importance of human reason and focuses on how brilliant the human mind is, without the need of some religious or supernatural entity. It celebrates the ideas that came during the Renaissance. Feminism, originated during the suffragette movement of the 1900’s, is an entirely different concept. It’s a movement advocating gender equality, in order to empower women’s status in society and bring justice for people who have been discriminated against not only for gender, but for race, sexual orientation and ability. Females, as a gender, have suffered a great deal more than males since time began. Therefore, the name derives from females because it is the females who have been oppressed. If males had historically suffered the same amount as females have, then it would be a different story and the concept of “meninism” would be acceptable. But the presumably white, straight males have actually suffered the least out of everyone. Feminism’s purpose is to balance this out. It doesn’t just seek equality, but it seeks to return everything that women were denied in the past. It even benefits men as well, who would have known?
Feminism has evolved to include all members of today’s society – black women, disabled women, LGBT members etc. It has become intersectional. These type of feminists stand with everyone, as everyone experiences different degrees of oppression in different countries around the world. Why does society need to change a movement’s name, which happens to have feminine connotations, just to please everyone who can’t bear the thought of something not revolving around them? By saying that you think feminism should be called “equalism” or “humanism”, you are essentially saying that you have no idea what feminism actually is, you care more about the name of a movement rather than what it’s fighting for and you degrade the actions of feminists who’ve fought for countless rights during the past that some of us take for granted each day. You insult something that is intersectional and fights for the right of equality, regardless of gender, race, ability or sexuality.
Feminism is about the respect of males, females and anything in between. To ask why it is called feminism would be to ask why we need to be respected the same as men are. To quote Dumbledore: “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”
hiraeth 