Traditional Feminism In America

Feminism, “the [theory of the] political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” Contrary to popular beliefs, it does not advocate for a matriarchy nor the total annihilation of males, but rather equal rights for both sexes. Traditional American gender roles have been socialized in our society since birth, and feminism works to abolish these demarcations by challenging what we think about gender. Should boys be allowed to wear pink and play with dolls? Should girls be allowed to wear blue and play with dirt bikes? Must women be feminine, and males be masculine? Feminism questions the acceptance of these ideologies and works to nullify them in our nation. Equality, the very principle America was founded upon and the very reason why feminism is important to the populace. Hegemonic masculinity not only plagues males but females as well; by creating a fragile male ego that believes a competing female will emasculate males instead of assisting, only causes females to cater to the male needs. Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie best explained the injustice from traditional gender roles in the quote, “We say to girls, ‘You can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful, otherwise you would

The opposing beliefs against feminism raises question on truly what each gender is required to do and who decides these rules. While several justify antifeminist motives with religious text, several believe that we must conform to society. But it is the people themselves that collectively make a society whole; it is the people that decide what is deviant in society and what is a norm in society. Thus, the argument that feminism is a threat to American culture is rebutted by the concept of society