It's That Simple

Today is Feminist Pride Day and I'm very proud to call myself a feminist. A lot of people are confused about what a feminist is, which is surprising to me because the definition is really simple.

A feminist is someone who wants people to be treated equally and with respect regardless of their gender.

That's it. It really is that simple.

Recently, a friend of mine said, "Am I the only male feminist in the world? There should be more."

Yes there should. But there are people out there who want to stand in the way of women's equality. They try to paint a picture of feminists as radical baby-killing man-hating whores. Some of them try to use religion, saying that women are supposed to be submissive to men because a book says so. Some of them deny that discrimination is even a problem and say that because women can become doctors and CEOs and such now, our work here is done in terms of equality for women.

It's really surprising how many women, especially young women, have no idea that the Constitution doesn't protect them from discrimination based on their gender. For many years, women have been working to get this protection added to the Constitution. This is the Equal Rights Amendment:

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

That's it. It really is that simple.

I believe we can get this done. I believe that the girls of my generation will be able to celebrate this victory in our lifetimes. Work is underway right now to make this happen and if you are reading this, regardless of if you are male or female, you can help. Hop on the Google and look up ERA or go to this page on Facebook:

 ERA ACTION  

There are a lot of things you can do like calling or writing your lawmakers or simply talking to your friends and making them aware of the efforts to ratify the ERA so that when they vote, they will vote for people who support it.

One of the most important things you can do is support the feminists in your life, both men and women, is to let them know you support them. When my friend expressed the desire for there to be more male feminists in the world, it let me know that despite all the men out there who see me as an object or a radical baby-killing man-hating whore, there are men out there who understand.

Whether you are a man or a woman, take a minute today to celebrate feminism and be proud of the progress we've made in this country in terms of equality for women. Just understand we have a lot more work to do.