The Feminist Movement Analysis

According to Merriam-Webster, feminism can be defined as the theory of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. By that logic, the feminist movement should be based on the equality of the sexes and not raising one above the other in the sociological sense. That should be a movement everyone, regardless of sex, should be able to agree with and of which to be a part. However, not all are agreeable to labeling themselves as a feminist. The feminist movement has a divided portrayal in the media, with celebrities both supporting and disapproving of the ideas stemming from the people in the movement. This dichotomy of views can be seen on the UCSB college campus as well, but not to such an extreme extent. In some ways, women feel the

One of the females who answered positively said that “…feminism, or the feminist movement, is so broad that it encompasses women and men who are not true feminists and use it as an excuse to be man-haters and do not actually look for gender equality but just look for an excuse to be rude to men”. Another female student, in the same vein of reasoning, commented that you should be critical of any movement you are part of, as it is not a good sign to blindly follow the leaders and not think for yourself. This suggests that some women want to label themselves as feminists by the dictionary definition and general idea that both genders should be equal, but cannot go along completely with the movement without taking a step back and thinking about what they are supporting. Since there are so many different interpretations of feminism, it is hard to discern core values. Even though most people agree that feminism is simply equality of the sexes, some people believe that feminism is something else. Shailene Woodley, during her interview with Time, said that “I think the idea of ‘raise women to power, take the men away from the power’ is never going to work out because you need balance”. Woodley was only slightly older than UCSB students at

Given the variety of answers from males in terms of being a feminist, it would seem natural to assume that most men would not care about having more women in office or even disagree with the statement: “It is very important that more women hold elected office”. Of the females interviewed, 3 out of the 5 women strongly agreed and 2 out of 5 of the men held the same opinion. The same amount of men and women somewhat agreed with the statement, while two men were neutral about the statement. Surprisingly, there was one female who disagreed with the statement. The immediate reaction would be that this one female was anti-feminist regarding women and politics, but her explanation was that she thought that gender should not be a factor in the election. While many made evident their opinion that people should be elected due to their qualifications and not elected due to their gender, most people interviewed came to the conclusion that more women in office would lead to more women feeling accepted in a male-dominated world. A good example of women making their way in politics and becoming a role model for other women and young girls is Leslie Knope, though she is a fictional character. Parks and Recreation was light hearted enough that many watched it