Kelli Scarpa

English 111
Professor Karunanayake
26 October 2014
Cover Letter:
In my essay, I chose to examine current common views of feminists in the
United States. I am part of the feminist group on campus at Miami University and
I think our organization would have a lot more support if the public understood
exactly what feminism is. The problem with this is that negative stereotypes and
misconceptions are being propagated and circulated. Now instead of simply
sharing their beliefs, feminists are forced to fight for support against a tall wall of
misunderstanding. Clearly, I feel very strongly about this particular subject and I
worry that my opinion might show too strongly through my essay. I tried to
include both sides of the argument, but reading them back now, they sound a
little sarcastic. I definitely do not want to mock the second half of my issue,
despite my personal views. When I started writing, I was just putting pen to
paper, so to speak. I wrote my proposal based on the small amount of research I
had done at that point and then continued my research in a more focused
fashion. After another week of research, I found current articles about feminism
very difficult to come across. I solved this problem by using twitter as my new
database. I thumbed through thousands of tweets and found a few that were profeminism and a lot that were anti-feminism. This also partially solved the dilemma
I faced on including both parts of my issue. The tweets that I have chosen to

include really highlight what I perceive to be the main fears about feminism. With
this in mind, I wrote my rough draft, which is currently more like a persuasive
essay than an informative one. If the reader could help specify what exactly I
should take out or change to make this more appropriate as a research essay,
that would be great. I have not yet written up the works cited, so please ignore
that for now.
What is a Feminist?: A Glimpse Into The Popular Views of Feminism

The oppression, devaluation, and objectification of women have

continuously occurred for hundreds of years. Even though Congress passed
Womens Suffrage and Rosie the Riveter has made space for women in the
workforce for almost a century, women still face the same problems. Feminism is
the belief in the complete equality of the sexes. This movement began long ago,
arguably as early as 570 BCE, but has been gaining support in the last few
decades. The real traction for feminism came in three waves, beginning in the
1880s. The first wave was ignited by women breaking the bonds of domesticity.
This was followed by the second wave of feminism, which focused on gender
equality and social justice from the 1960s until the early 1990s. The third wave
of feminism grew out of the second, building on the ideas and expanding the
focus into reproductive rights and domestic violence. The difference is that thirdwave feminists changed the notion that feminism cant be girly (Rampton). The
idea of feminists embracing the things that were previously used to sexualize and
objectify them has attracted a lot of attention, including attention from the media.

This is a great opportunity for spreading feminists message, but the exposure
has put the movement under high scrutiny, both from the public and from the
inside. The increased publicity and radicalism of current Feminism has given
certain connotations and stereotypes to the feminist movement, especially in
popular culture in America, and therefore hindering feminist progress.
What are the stereotypes?
When the average person thinks of a feminist, there are a plethora of
different images that could come to mind. Some would say that feminists are
power-hungry, falsely righteous, and overzealous. Others might say that a
feminist is a middle aged, upper-middle class white woman with nothing better to
do (Goldberg 13). Yet another is the idea that all feminists are bra-burning, manhating lesbians (I Am Not a Feminist). These stereotypes and misconceptions
have been formulated for a reason; there has, in fact, been a trend of lesbian
support of feminism, especially since the second wave of the movement.
Feminism has become increasingly radical, as its members have become
noticeably more outspoken (Rampton). But one cannot sum up the culture of an
entire group of people based on a group. A square may be a rectangle, but not
all rectangles are squares. Similarly, someone who hates men might be a
feminist, but not all feminists hate men. Because of the recent increase in the
animosity and tension towards feminism, people are lashing out from both sides.
These outspoken and passionate, however misguided, individuals have become
the supposed norm of the feminist group, leaving current members guilty by
association and deterring potential supporters.

How did they become stereotypes?

Stereotypes become the supposed norm of a group for a long list of
reasons. They are either created because of ignorant people, who take
everything at face value or perpetuated by misinformed or cowardly people,
trying to stay out of harms way. However, if you judge a book by its cover, you
will never ascertain the contents, ideas, or principles that are bound to it. This
misinterpretation is the root cause of the stereotypes that misrepresent the whole
feminist movement. They are perpetuated because they are interesting to the
public, giving outsiders something to use as criticism. If stereotypes were not
intriguing to people, they would not be perpetuated and would cease to exist.
Really, they continue to exist only because of the publics love to criticize things
without doing their homework on the topic. If people did investigate the
philosophy of feminism, we would not hear things like, Saying we need feminism
cos some women fear men is like saying we need the KKK cos some whites fear
people of color. #feminismisawful, or Fighting gender inequality with sexism
towards men is absurd and hypocritical #FeminismIsAwful, (Hupp, Evans).
These critics would know that feminism is about neither of these things if they
dug a little deeper and ascertained for themselves what it is about. It is not as if it
is difficult to find feminist literature. There are hundreds of blogs, books,
speeches, podcasts, and organizations that are eager to share their thoughts.
The trick is sampling a range of different stances, from moderate to radical; so as
to be able to make the most informed decision possible.
How are these stereotypes a misrepresentation?

Some people could argue that feminism is not necessary and that women
are just seeking attention, but feminism is not awful. It is not about complaining,
about fear, or about the hatred of men. It is not an excuse for women to bully
men or to make themselves victims. Feminism is about the economic, political
and social equality of the sexes and is a completely necessary and relevant
social justice issue. Americans claim to live in a free country, while American
women still do not receive the same payment as men for identical jobs. Both
genders are held to different standards and expected to conform to the
oppressive expectations set before them. Around the world, women, gay men,
lesbians, and even straight men are being oppressed and discriminated against.
A study by the United Nations illustrated this horrifying truth. The sentence,
Women shouldnt when typed into the Google search bar brought up answers
such as have rights. When Women need to was typed into the same search
engine, it was finished with responses such as be put in their place, know their
place, and be controlled (UN Women). If these are the most popular endings to
these clauses, there is a need for feminism; a need for justice.
What is the validity of this view?
The need for justice brings about many differing opinions on how to
achieve it. There are some that will be against doing anything because they are
convinced that there are no problems. There are some that will agree that
something needs to change and dabble in supporting a movement, but shy away
for a lack of courage or commitment. There are others that will throw their heart
and soul into a cause and give their all to make sure that a change is actualized.

These people walk a thin line between passion for a cause and radicalism. It is
these passionate people that are targeted as false stereotypes. Some radical
feminists openly hate men and create a cause for the formation of a stereotype,
but this is not to say that if you are a feminist, you automatically hate men. In the
terms of feminism, there are people who hate men, there are lesbians, and there
are middle-aged white women. However, all of these factors should be viewed as
separate from the idea that they are feminists. Despite your race, sexuality,
social standing, gender, or any other non-contributing factors, if you believe in
equality of the sexes, you believe in feminism. In fact, there are whole branches
of feminism that are made up of minorities, such as Black Feminism and ThirdWorld Feminism. These two sub-sections of feminism stemmed from mujerism
in the 1980s, when women of color felt that their issues had been neglected in
the mainstream feminist movement (Butler). There is also a new movement
being started by the UN, which invites men to take part in feminism. He for She
acknowledges the fact that women will never be treated as equals without the
support of men. This movement and worldwide broad-casted speech by Emma
Watson is working to break down the gender-barriers and recruit more people to
make a difference (He for She). Although these branches share the same
fundamental characteristics of traditional feminism, they include an added focus
on the issues of Latina and African-American women and issues faced by men
because of current-day society (Gilreath). This shows that even if you do not
consider yourself to fit the stereotype of feminists, you can still believe in
feminism.

How do these stereotypes deter people from identifying as a feminist?

Because of the derogatory nature of such stereotypes, there are people
who believe whole heartedly feminism, but choose not to identify as a feminist.
People who are completely in favor of feminism are refusing to show their
support under the scrutiny of the public eye. However precarious, these
individuals are avoiding guilt by association, as well as criticism from inside the
movement (Goldberg). Feminists who are not as radical as the large group of
third-wave feminists avoid trying to state their views for fear of rejection from
people who are supposed to be their peers (Goldberg). This may seem like a
minor issue, as the non-identifiers still believe in the equality of all people. But if
undercover feminists dont speak up and show their support, how ever
moderate, the group loses both unity and momentum. If we are going to make a
difference in our world, we must act as a conglomerate. Society can shrug off
attacks from many small groups, but it cannot avoid one expansive, cohesive,
and passionate call to action. It is important to see the commonalities in what
different types of feminists believe, rather than the differences (Goldberg). The
intensity of support from a large group creates a zebra effect. If everyone stands
together in support of a cause, they are less likely to be shot down, or hunted by
lions. With both of these things in mind, it is easy to see why false stereotypes
and assumptions are so detrimental to a political and societal movement.

Feminism is a very controversial subject at the moment. Pro-feminist and

antifeminist works alike canvas the Internet, while both groups alike are prone to
criticism. Various celebrities have started identifying with the movement, while

others deliberately choose not to identify as feminists. A likely cause of this

hesitance to choose a side is a misrepresentation of the fundamental values of
feminism. The misconceptions of feminists in the United States today are an
infectious disease spread by the misinformed and created by parasitic
extremists. This epidemic of misinterpretation is stunting the previously vigorous
growth of the feminist movement due its recent increase in publicity.

Works Cited
Butler, Anthea.Women of Color and Feminism: A Hitsory Lesson and Way Forward. 28 July
2013.rhrealitycheck.org.Web.