Reflection Paper About Feminism

It delights me that a society once as patriarchal as the Philippines can now express the reality of feminism. The reality that feminism is a world view—a way of thinking, and a way of life—that in its plainest sense, demands for equal rights and treatment for men and women socially, politically, economically, and culturally. It seems so simple, and it is. Through brilliant, powerful, and resilient female role models such as the Powerpuff girls, Hermione Granger, and my very own mother , I’ve been fortunate enough to get an early start in feminism. Although, in my 7 year old brain, the idea that men and women should be treated equally should be so basic and uncomplicated that the need for feminism was nothing else but an ideal that didn’t need

To see her correct misconceptions and be so unafraid of standing up for a cause I firmly believe in, but have almost always been scorned for, is something that brought me to tears. At an early age, girls are given little to no choice but to be ingrained with the thought that to be strong, noble, and admirable—you must have the masculine stance and built of a knight. Society has taught us that girls are soft, sweet, and well-behaved, and if you don’t like those labels, you’re a freak because that’s all the adjectives girls are allowed to get. Even if you learn the stance of the knight, they still put you in a cage and tell you that girls can’t wish for things like individualism and free choice. You’d think some people’s brains are wired for the 1920’s—so backwards to think that it’s perfectly fine for girls to be nothing but slaves, or dolls. Boys are also given little to no choice but to fall victim to toxic masculinity—treating femininity and softness as if it were the most shameful thing you could ever have. If we lived in Utopia , being a feminist would be a no-brainer, whatever gender you are, but in this world, the notion that something like demanding equal rights and treatment is said to be radical, gives it all the more reason to start a revolution. The United Nations’ HeforShe campaign is a revolution calling for nothing else but solidarity to fight persisting inequalities experienced by women, men, and the LGBTQ+ community. It’s about time that we erase the perception that having people other than women and girls as feminists is odd and questionable. Gender issues concern everyone. Double standards exist. Being a housewife is considered usual, while a father doing the same thing is “good for nothing”. Unnecessary sexualization of all genders exists. There are people—men and women alike—I know of who have been traumatized, and are now