Third Wave Feminism And Gender Equality

Over the summer of this year, a survey was conducted. It turns out that 85% of Americans believe in gender equality. That’s pretty good, right? Almost everyone in the United States thinks that men and women should be equal. The second part of the poll asked people if they are feminists. Only 18% of Americans are feminists. Maybe that doesn’t seem striking to you. But here is the Merriam Webster definition of feminism: “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” So I’ll reiterate- in a room of 100 people, 85 believe in gender equality, but only 18 believe in feminism, which is gender equality. That’s a bit odd, isn’t it? But it’s for just one reason: In today’s society, feminism has a bad rap. People make fun

The first wave, lasting from the 19th century to the early 20th century, focused on women’s right to vote. Second wave feminism took place during the 1960s and 70s focused on stopping sexual abuse in relationships and getting better education and jobs for women. Third wave feminism focuses on today’s rape culture and sexual assault in the workplace. Today, we also address the wage gap that has existed forever, but has yet to close. Additionally, third wave feminism combats the objectification and sexualization of women in the media and in everyday life. With the increase in technology in modern time, feminists have taken to the internet and social media to spread awareness and ideas. Equality used to be about rights. Like the right to vote, the right to divorce your husband, or the right to fight in the army. People believe that since we have all those rights now, it means men and women are equal. But sexism hasn’t gone

I would also witness the suppression of emotions in men around me. Ask yourself, have you seen your dad, uncle or grandfather cry? Maybe once or twice. Maybe they were crying alone, and you weren’t supposed to see it. Why is that? Because in today, men aren’t allowed to show their emotions. They can’t be vulnerable, or they are called ‘weak.’ Over the past few years, I started to examine this. And I realized that this is sexism. Boys, so far in this speech, you’ve wondered how this applies to you. You’ve probably heard about women’s rights before. Maybe you dislike feminism, because you think it’s about hating men. Maybe you just don’t care, because it doesn’t affect you. But as I stated earlier, feminism is the belief in gender equality. As in, both genders being equal. Men and women. It’s easy to feel excluded, because you think it’s about women, but boys, this is your issue