The civil rights movement was a wasted effort. The social justice, economic opportunity and legislative leeway that paved the road for equality for future African-Americans was simply unnecessary.
I say this, because for most, these provocative comments would spark anger, receive harsh criticism and be titled ignorant and foolish.
If this is the case, why are we living out those exact criticisms in the midst of a modern equality movement? Many people make uneducated inferences about feminism. This is in large part because of the façade that social media and shallow news outlets place on feminism.
These two mediums do a phenomenal job of making the five percent look like the 95 percent and vice versa. Because of these false misconceptions, there is an ongoing idea that feminists think women should be the superior gender.
Some believe feminists are angry, power-thirsty and attention-driven people. Others say feminists are women who hate men.
In actuality, feminism is the opposite of these uneducated assumptions. Instead, feminism, like Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, like Ghandi and the Indian Independence Movement, like the founding fathers and the American Revolution, is a fight for equality.
Unless citizens feel that equality is truly a worthless ideal which should not belong in society, their actions should reflect their mantras. Feminism is the push for credentials, not gender, to be the driving factor in hiring employees. Feminism is the idea that if a man and a woman accomplish the same task with the same success, in the same amount of time, the two should be paid equally. Feminism is the idea that women should be given equal opportunities to impact the world, whether it be from economic, political, industrial or educational platforms.
In 1920, society made a massive leap as women were given the ability to vote. Still, women struggle for equality. Women are simply viewed on a lesser standard than men. According to the Wall Street Journal, women make only 55 percent of the wage of men in some occupations, which is why the struggle for equality is still being fought.
For too long, inequality has been the norm and this must change. It is time for all of society to become educated on the true meaning and importance of equality. It is time to realize respect doesn’t mean holding doors open. It means acknowledging women as humans, not objects or targets. It is time for all of society to change because this change is one that is desperately needed.
The much-needed movement of equality begins with each individual laying down their personal bias and understanding what feminism truly stands for. The first step is becoming educated on the reasons for and why feminism is such a necessary movement in our society.
Everybody should genuinely ask themselves what their definition of equality truly is. If that matches the equality that feminism strives to achieve, they should join the 21st century version of the Civil Rights Movement, known as feminism.
Infographic by Neil Cathro