Did your opinion on the word 'feminism' change after hearing Emma's speech?

[Ardit]

A lot of people think the word 'feminism' is a bad one because they think it implies women are BETTER than men and want MORE rights than men. A lot of times we hear people say things like, 'Eww! All feminists hate men!' or 'I don't want to call myself a feminist because that's a bad word'

None of these things are obviously true. The word feminism stands for equality for ALL genders, and women don't want to have BETTER rights than men. They want to have the exact same rights as men meaning no gender is better than the other. We're all equal. I can't even begin to tell you how often I've heard the 'all feminists hate men' sentence several times in my life and always been massively disappointed by it. As I said earlier, feminists do not hate men as that would go completely against the point of feminism. A woman who calls herself a feminist and then goes on to say women are better than men, deserve better rights than men and thinks all men suck etc. is not actually a feminist.

A lot of people also refuse to call themselves feminists as they think it's a word associated with bad opinions about men and the things I listed above. Here's a paragraph from an article that describes why singer Taylor Swift refused to call herself a feminist:

''Back in 2012, Swift had publicly rejected feminism, saying: “I don’t really think about things as guys versus girls. I was raised by parents who brought me up to think if you work as hard as guys, you can go far in life.

But when she made her comeback last year, she said Dunham had been a catalyst in her reversing these views. “I didn’t understand that saying you’re a feminist is just saying that you hope women and men will have equal rights,” Swift said. “Becoming friends with Lena has made me realise that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so.”

I've never seen the word 'feminist' as being a bad one because I've always agreed that women should have the same rights as men. However, because of people who told me that feminists suck, I stopped referring to myself as a feminist for many years because I felt like people would judge me for using it. After Emma's speech, however, I actually started using it more frequently. Hearing Emma talk about the word and why we shouldn't feel embarrassed using it made me feel MUCH better. It made me stop feeling embarrassed every time I used it. In fact, it makes me extremely proud now and I happily refer to myself as a feminist because there is absolutely nothing wrong with the word feminist. I support equal rights for everyone, and supporting equality is NOT something to feel embarrassed about. It is the proper thing to do and a good move towards a better world.

I apologise for the long post but now to the question from the title:

'Did your opinion on the word 'feminism' change after hearing Emma's speech?'

I'd really like to hear your opinions on this topic and the word 'feminism' in general.

With lots of love from,
Ardit Haliti x

PS. I'm a PROUD male feminist and I completely support HeForShe. I hope you do, too!

[Alexander]

It's not something I ever thought about. I watched her speech. She sold me. I joined. I was raised by a single mom. She taught me it's never right to hit girls. She also (probably jokingly) told me it's all right for my future ex-wife to rob me blind and deny me the right to be my children's father. That I can't really get on board with. But I see nothing wrong with equal pay, ending domestic violence,etc. But you gotta know there's some types of violence that are outside of conventional understanding. Like psychopathic violence, I mean. The consensus is a psychopath is born, not made.

[[deleted user]]

The problem of that speech is not the definition it makes of feminism (which is correct), but the proposal that follows. From my point of view, at the long term this is gonna worsen it. And the better this campaing works, the worse it will be. Instead of women taking control over it, they are relegating, again, problems to be solved by men (even if it's 50/50 we already are in an unequal situation). It's gonna create a problem in developed societies way more difficult to be solved because it will be more subtle. But we're too worried to solve short-term problems instead of long-term ones and we don't see how harmful that attitude is. And that's why mankind goes from a problem to the next, each one worse than the previous (even if we don't see it, although is pretty obvious. Example: need more energy? Nuclear technology. Problem? We could exterminate ourselves in a day. (Blame Einstein for his irresponsability towards his ideas). Another one: We want to evolve. Social development. Problem? In 100 years coastal cities will be all called Atlantis.)

And I obviously don't doubt about their good intentions. In fact, they are too good for the real situation. It neglects some aspects for the sake of generalization. And that just can't work.

Things are difficult, and rejecting to accept it doesn't vanish them. Just aggravates them.

[[deleted user]]

Jason wrote: "It's not something I ever thought about. I watched her speech. She sold me. I joined. I was raised by a single mom. She taught me it's never right to hit girls. She also (probably jokingly) told me..."

Psycopathy is not a disease, but people with a different mental structure. It's a misunderstood concept because of novels, films, and fiction in general. It can lead to agressivity, but that's like saying that all German people are nazis. And I'm not saying with this that I'm one, just giving you some information haha. (The reason it leads to violence is because they see they are not as tied to feelings as the rest of people and they abuse too much of that. )

[Zoe]

My friend and I asked people on the streets (in Germany) and when we asked them, if they would consider themselves as feminists, none of them said yes. They usually said something like: "oh no!" or "that word is so old fashioned! No absolutely not" or "ugh no! I'm not into it that much". It was for a school project, we are still working on and the answers of random people really have blown my mind.

[Jessica]

I applaud and respect Emma Watson for getting up before millions of people. It isn't easy. I would be a quivering pile of goo before even getting up there. Sadly, no, her speech did not change my opinion on feminism. Instead, it reinforced it. Even though feminism is supposed to be about women being powerful, the whole speech was about how men can protect us.

[Chloe]

No, her speech did not change my opinion, as my opinion was already the same as her own. It reinforced my opinion instead, and I loved how she aimed a part of it directly at men. I hope it made people realise what feminism is really about and that they joined us in the fight for equality.

[Alexander]

But even though she was terrified, she carried it like a pro. Such charisma. Such presence. That's why I got inspired.

[Ardit]

Jessica wrote: "I applaud and respect Emma Watson for getting up before millions of people. It isn't easy. I would be a quivering pile of goo before even getting up there. Sadly, no, her speech did not change my o..."

I think you've sadly missed the whole point of her speech. It was not about men being able to protect feminists. It was about men being a part of what we stand for and therefore helping make the world a better place.

If men join the HeForShe campaign, they can then take the lessons they've learnt from, for example, Emma's speech and teach others the same things. Feminism stands for equality and it is a sad fact that men have more rights than women in today's society. There's male bosses who intentionally give women a worse salary despite doing the same jobs as men, there's males who make sexist jokes about women, and do all these things we're trying to stop completely. Feminism isn't just something only women can support. It's something we can ALL support.

What Emma means is that we can achieve EQUALITY much, much faster if we can make MORE men join the HeForShe campaign and support feminism/equality. After HeForShe, there's men out there that have changed their views completely on what feminism is about and now fully support feminism and even refer to themselves as feminists. This support alone is a HUGE improvement as these same men will think of the issues that exist and try to prevent them by giving women salaries that are exactly the same as their male co-workers salaries. It will make these men want to stop sexism at jobs, make sure women are heard, and seen as EQUAL to the men. This does not mean Emma said women feel PROTECTED. It means they feel SUPPORTED because there's not just women in the world talking about feminism and trying to make sure there's equality in the world. There's men, there's women, there's all kinds of people coming together to ensure we get the future we all deserve. A future where equality has been achieved and there's no such thing as having to deal with sexism or women getting paid less than men.

This is the same thing as having straight people support same-sex marriage. It's a step towards a better world, because it shows OTHERS who might not agree with same-sex marriage that it IS normal and that same-sex marriage should be a legal thing EVERYWHERE. We need voices to be heard, not just from the people who these issues are about, but from people who do not experience these issues but still want to show the world that these issues should not EXIST.

[Ardit]

Kodak wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I would be a quivering pile of goo before even getting up there."

I read this incorrectly :'D I would be, myself, poop, if I stood in front of a huge crowd having the whole thing l..."

I stood in front of 500+ people once. I was ridiculously scared until about 30 seconds after when I realised there's nothing wrong with it! Amazing experience.

[Jackeline]

I respect and admire Emma, I think many young people were influencidas by his saying, and this is a great thing for our battle. With respect to me, his speech only reinforced that I'm on the right road.

[Ardit]

Jackeline wrote: "I respect and admire Emma, I think many young people were influencidas by his saying, and this is a great thing for our battle. With respect to me, his speech only reinforced that I'm on the right ..."

Completely agree! Emma herself said we all need a platform that can inspire us, and that's why she created HeForShe. :)

PS. I just wanted to mention that it's her/she if talking about a woman. :)

[Rafael]

When I watched Emma's speech, I realized that feminism was a really important issue and everyone should take action in order to achieve gender equality. Also, I remembered the days when I was a kid and adults would say: " you can't play, this is girl stuff" or "she can't play soccer because she's a girl". Moreover, I concluded that since childhood we are taught to don't accept differences, and this affects men and women, boys and girls, and reinforces prejudice and inequality. To sum up, I'd like to say that if we teach kids to respect each other, we will have a better generation, and we will be closer to gender equality.

[Ardit]

Kodak wrote: "Ardit wrote: "Kodak wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I would be a quivering pile of goo before even getting up there."

I read this incorrectly :'D I would be, myself, poop, if I stood in front of a huge cr..."

You can act on stage and be completely fine? *Bows to you*

THAT is when I'm ridiculously nervous. I was in drama class, and I was only able to do it in front of the people I knew, but not in front of like 40 new people. I was terrified and could barely speak!

That must have been really tough, Kodak! How many people were in the room? Is this something you experience no matter how many people there are in the room or just when there's loads?

[Pablo]

Not really. I have considered myself a feminist for some years now. I have two daughters and a wife. They are the reason for me to support organizations that help empower women in health, education and social equality.

I do believe her speech was a very good one and I am happy to see how the power of her voice helped to bring the discussion (and hopefully action) forward.

[Ardit]

Kodak wrote: "Ardit wrote: "Kodak wrote: "Ardit wrote: "Kodak wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I would be a quivering pile of goo before even getting up there."

I read this incorrectly :'D I would be, myself, poop, if I..."

I understand why you'd be nervous, though! I'd be feeling the same. :) You were new at your job and doing a good first impression is ALWAYS scary as it will impact how they see you as a person for the rest of your life! I'm sure you did brilliantly, though. x

[Jessica]

Kodak wrote: "Ardit wrote: "Kodak wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I would be a quivering pile of goo before even getting up there."

I read this incorrectly :'D I would be, myself, poop, if I stood in front of a huge cr..."

I've made speeches before people as well. But I always this moment right before I go on a stage or in front of podium where I am freaking out. When I was younger it was worse, as I've grown older it has gotten better.

Ardit wrote: "Kodak wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I would be a quivering pile of goo before even getting up there."

I read this incorrectly :'D I would be, myself, poop, if I stood in front of a huge crowd having the..."

Same here. When I'm acting I'm fine. But I think its because we are pretending to be other people. For some reason its harder to be yourself.

[Jessica]

Ardit wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I applaud and respect Emma Watson for getting up before millions of people. It isn't easy. I would be a quivering pile of goo before even getting up there. Sadly, no, her speech did..."

I appreciate your response. I understand that is what Ms. Watson may have meant, but its not how it came across to me. I'll be honest, as a little girl, I was never one to accept help. I always felt constricted by it. I've always wanted to be the one to do something, on my own. I know its not a very feminine trait, still I've never been very feminine.