The Truth About Feminism

Morenike Adetunji and Abosede Adeleke

So many people offer the argument that since women are not the same as men, there can't be such a thing as equality, many would say that women are but weaker vessels.

Actually, feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of equality of sexes. Oxford English Dictionary defines a feminist as an advocate or supporter of the rights and equality of women.

Over time, there have been misperceptions on the topic. Many believe that feminism is about hating the masculine gender, thereby tagging feminists as bitter; Some fear that feminism will bring about negative shifts in relationships, marriages, societies, cultures, power and authority dynamics, businesses and economic opportunities.

Some other feminist extremists however take the issue overboard as they go too extreme in their advocacy by trying to sink the ships of other men.

There will always be people who will bastardize rules, policies, abuse situations all in the name of an advocacy or any other case scenario. One must take to heart that regardless, the truth continues to be true.

In our society today, our ideologies of feminism are not gotten from what feminism actually means, but from the actions of feminists. Take for instance, Chimamanda Adiche's chat with the former United States of America presidential aspirant, Hilary Clinton, caused uproar and gave a rather negative perception of feminism.

As individuals, we ought to live beyond what we are served and sometimes go all out to sort for our own truth. There are many issues concerning youths and individuals that we do not have knowledge of. What we have rather is hearsay from people who may or may not have the complete knowledge.

Feminism basically advocates for the actualization of the rights of a woman as an "individual" and not just as a "woman". Feminists see women as becoming their own persons, rather than having to depend on a man, they see women holding apex positions in businesses, states and the country, they see a society where women are given the same opportunity as  men without the feminine gender being a hindrance.

Knowing this fact doesn't mean you must concur or accept the notion, but you stand a better chance of making the right choice.