Feminism in a traditional sense entails the advocacy of social, political and economical inclusion of sexes. It frowns at exclusion or any form of segregation.
One of the most famous feminist, a French scholar and a philosopher Simione De Beauvoir believed that the definition of man and woman were solely a man made thing. She believed that men are directly addressed as permanent as a human while when women are addressed, subtle forms of description come in.
The greatest problem that the early feminists met was the definition of "who is a woman?" Using the anatomy of a female to define or explain this question is what has turned into the various segregation that women have faced in our society today. This is why De Beauvoir strongly believed that, no one is born a woman, rather people are labeled to be a woman after birth, but everyone is born as a human being.
Feminism in its fold to promote inclusion has put forth its pedals on the basis of the fact that it's irrelevant to try defining a woman. A woman is simply but a human being just like a man. They take almost the same life routine to stay living and plus the fact that every characteristic of a living being as experienced by men, is also experienced by women.
One of the reasons I am glad about the advent of feminism as a philosophy as well as a movement was the fact that it thwarted the unfair script of existence. It prompted the reevaluation of the traditional stereotypes and gender roles that were sociologically proposed by humans in various communities of the world, fostering a more nuanced understanding of historical events as well as individuals. It challenged some historical norms that abjectly condemned women to specific societal roles and professions. Now in a in a more liberal sense, feminism has paved way for the sense of inclusion in understanding the complexities that exist in genders birthing concepts such as;
The needs of women.
The freedom of women.
The capabilities of women.
The utilization of women's creativity.
Prioritizing the opinion of women just as that of men.
Now the world has become a more free and comfortable environment for women to thrive, be creative as well as follow their passion and vision. And sincerely speaking, a lot of women in the world have leveraged on this great movement to create impact in the world. So many women are by definition great bankers, great communicators, entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors and as a matter of fact, even in male dominated fields such as some delicate part of engineering, women are still dominating.
All of these have been amplified by the feminist movement. By challenging traditional narrative and amplifying the marginalized voices, advocating for the women's contribution to be recognised. It also prepped women mentally to subconsciously condition themselves with the idea that they have a lot more to offer other than the roles that the traditional normes had set for them. This has aided a more acceptable reflection of the complexity and diversity of human society.
This is what feminism is all about, anything other than these views about feminism, is questionable.
Hope you learnt something today?
All pictures are mine.