Right - it needs to be said: Feminism is causing problems.
Not feminism, the belief that all people should have equal opportunities regardless of their sex or gender, perceived or otherwise. That's not in contention.
Feminism, the word, is causing problems.
And writing this has been a long time coming but something I've been avoiding because I'm arguably risking adding yet another thing to the heap of discussions I'm about to criticize. But here it goes.
My understanding of feminism is simple.
I believe in and want to live in a world where women are treated equally to men.
By that definition, I'm a feminist.
But what seems to be happening is a lot of arguing about what feminism is and what makes a person a feminist.
There are men who don't think they can be feminists because they think the definition involves having a vagina.
There are women who don't want to call themselves feminists because they think feminism is the female equivalent of a patriarchy and involves 'man hating'.
There are gender ambiguous individuals who don't want to have to be anything besides gender ambiguous who feel like the word excludes equality for them because it divides sex and gender (Yes, these are two different things) into a binary on which their identity does not exist.
We bog ourselves down with arguments about what feminism is or isn't and ultimately cause ourselves so much more harm for it because arguing about the definition of a word is missing the entire point.
So let's take away the word and actually call it what it is: Gender equality.
Do you believe that all human beings, regardless of their sex or gender, deserve equal pay for performing the same job at the same skill level?
Do you believe that all human beings, regardless of their sex or gender, deserve the same level of protection under the law?
Do you believe that all human beings, regardless of sex or gender, deserve respect, to feel safe and to have access to the same opportunities in life?
Whatever you call it, it's a question of equality. And equality is a human issue, not a male issue or a female issue or a trans issue or a cultural issue or an age issue or an ability issue.
Yes, ALL people but first we must acknowledge that currently, there are specific groups experiencing inequality in specific ways and in order for equality to apply to all people we have to first acknowledge how it currently only applies to some people.
Put your hand up if you believe in gender equality.