There is such a hot debate around the question: Do we really need feminism?
Started in 1848 when hundreds of people fought for the cause of equality for women, the human wave has continued until these present days. Women in the past did their part of “real women”: being a wife and a mother whose whole life revolved around doing the housework, taking care of their husband and children, and nothing more; being looked down by society as the know-nothing, the dependent or none other than a child-producer. Therefore they stood up, fought for all rights they deserve: enter the labor force, gain knowledge, or even have the same opportunities as men. In our modern days, feminism not only fights for the equality of sexes, but it is also about respecting diverse women’s experiences, identities, knowledge, and strengths, and striving to empower all women to realize their full rights. Consequently, both women and men could now do whatever they want and could be respected as a human, as a citizen or as a worker.
However, looking at both sides, the trend is now partly going into an adverse way. For instance, a video from Youtube interviewed a group of modern men and most of them believed that women are receiving way better treatment than they deserve and that they are ridiculously prioritized when it comes to job opportunities as agencies want to build up a gender-equal image. This is why they think that women will be considered more important than men in the near future. Moreover, some men can be so pessimistic about the idea of feminism that they wouldn’t ever want to stand by feminism. What is more serious now is that women are forced to do both jobs of a breadwinner and a homemaker; otherwise, they will be regarded as useless people and have to depend on their husbands. As a result, in the two most developed countries where the feminism trend grows considerably – England and America, the divorce rate is booming since women can no longer put up with doing such hard duty, experiencing stress without enjoying their life.
Whether feminism is good or bad really depends on individual experiences, attitudes, and actions. “Everything is perfect and there is always room for improvement,” as a Soto Zen monk Shunryu Suzuki said. Feminism is perfect by its original motivation of fighting for women, yet is still in need of further improvement. Finding faults to make a better version of feminism, not to make causes to abandon the rightful movement.