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Brandy Frye
Instructor Jessica Morton
UWRT 1101-048
23 October 2014

Feminism is For Everyone

Who does feminism affect? It is a very common belief that feminism is only for women
and it doesnt benefit anyone but them. This has been a common myth for generations, mostly
because of the fact of lack of knowledge. So many people dont know the true definition of
feminism; they just know what they have heard about the generalized idea that society has
towards feminist. No one knows the true benefits feminism has for not only women but men and
society as a whole, which leads to the lack of knowledge about how many people and different
organizations are already involved in the feminist movement. This is a world-wide movement
meant to benefit everyone and make society become aware of all the sexist issues in the world
that happen daily.
Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploration, and oppression this is the
famous definition from bell hooks, a legendary African American feminist she is one of the few
that started the movement. This definition is one that she states in all her books. Another
common definition of feminism is the equality of gender, this is also true but hooks states the
definition like she does because sexism is the cause of the issues of gender equality. (hooks.) It is
a common belief in society that we are just angry, crazy women who dont shave their armpits.
(Green.) Being a feminist has nothing to do with looks or being a hairy women, in fact being a

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feminist has nothing to do with what gender you are. It is anyone who wants to make a
difference in society and believes in gender equality, rights to our bodies, education rights, and a
say in government, and the list goes on. The issue of sexism affects both men and women; we
just focus on women more because women are the ones who are hurt most by sexism. (Green) A
lot of people especially women like to say Im not a feminist just because of the unappealing
reputation feminist have but by saying this according to Mindy Nettiffees YouTube video, For
Young Women who Dont Consider Their selves Feminist saying Im Not a feminist is like
saying I dont like having the right to vote, or Im okay with my body being property and I
dont care about receiving an education. It is absurd for society to rule out being a part of an
important cause just because they are uneducated about the subject and all they know is the
negative hear-say about the subject. Some issues feminism deals with is equal pay, rights to
contraception, abortion rights, gay, lesbian and transgender rights, rights to make decisions for
our own bodies and factors in our lifes.
Feminism does not only help women but it helps society as a whole, and throughout the
years it has done that in many ways. Given that ladies make up approximately half of the
workforce, their integration had huge positive ripple effects in all industries. And we shouldn't
stop there: Incorporating even more women in the workforce can help keep our economy
vibrant.(23 Ways.) Throughout the past years feminism has been fighting for working rights
for women, and because of that it has boosted the economy and has improved the workforce
greatly which benefits men and women in the workforce. It also helped demolish laws that
discriminated men, In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to treat

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women and men differently under the law. The case, Craig v. Boren, was filled by a plaintiff in
Oklahoma over its gender-specific drinking age policy, which prohibited men from drinking
before age 21, but allowed women to drink when as young as 18.(23 Ways.) This was unfair
because it was saying men were less responsible than women therefore they had to wait till the
age of 21 to drink, and feminism helped this law getting changed which goes to prove feminism
fights for both men and womens rights in not just the workforce but in all aspects of society and
equal gender rights. One important issue that really ended up benefiting men was when feminist
fought to change the definition of rape. Back in the earlier years rape only referred to when
women where sexually assaulted against their will, but feminists fought against the definition to
get it changed in law that rape is rape. No matter you age gender or any of those aspects if it is
against the will of another person it is considered rape whether it is instigated by a woman or
man. (23 Ways.)
One huge organization called Feminist Majority Foundation is an organization that tries
to spread feminism around the world. Their Mission of Feminist Majority Foundation is to
create and develop bold, new strategies, and programs to advance womens equality, nonviolence, and economic development and most importantly empowerment of women and girls in
all sectors of society. (Feminist Majority Foundation.) They have things like reproduction rights
and new technology for safe abortions and the goal of making jobs and the work place more
equal for women. They also have many important principals that they stand by which are things
like equality for all, not just women but gender equality as a whole. Things like abortion right to
all women and the right to by different types of contraception along with family planning being
available. A major Principle they have is supporting gay and lesbian rights and also supporting

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transgender, they are very supportive of everyone and non-judgmental, FMF is very big on that
which ties in with their no discrimination policy which can also apply to genders. Lastly they
help with non-violence and non-violence against women and ending sweatshops. Sweatshops
arent as big of an issue in America as they used to be but in other countrys they are still a
frequent issue. FMF has many events throughout the community to spread awareness. One of the
main ones is summer intern briefing, this is when interns from the organization travel to
Washington D.C for Capital Hill briefing and congressional visit day. They focus on thing like
women in politics like the womens treaty and equal rights amendment and a big issue, equal pay
for women
Feminism is prevalent throughout the world and benefits women and men in every
country. Especially countries where women do not have the right to vote or to walk down the
street, their lives are controlled by men and their countys government, FMF strives to let
women that dont have the natural rights that we have in America, receive the rights we should
be born to, like the rights to our bodys, being able to vote, and being able to have the say in our
lives. This organization does many campaigns throughout the world to help people in need, like
The Feminist Majority Foundation Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls has four major
components: Public Education and Community Organizing, Public Policy Research and Strategy
Development, Global Outreach, and support of Humanitarian Aid to Afghanistan Women-led
Organizations and to programs serving Afghan Women and Girls.(Feminist Majority
Foundation) They have been helping this community for 16 years now and they are still trying to
do their part in bettering womens lives in Afghan. Many other organizations and activist do their
part in also help spread feminism around the world. Currently in Europe they are trying to

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change laws to make men and womens opportunity in government equal. Feminist are trying to
achieve equal parliamentary representation in the republic by 2020. Ireland recently passed a
new gender quota bill that requires that 30 percent female candidates in the next
election.(Globalization101.) Things like this are happening all throughout the world, we are just
not aware of it because so many dont emphasize how important feminism is to everyone, but yet
there is proof all around us how it changing the world for the better for everyone not just one
certain gender.
Feminism benefits all ages, but it is especially beneficial to younger girls, there are many
programs and camps that help teach girls about positive self-image and teach them about
bullying. Next month in uptown Charlotte the Gen-X learning community will be participating in
a Dove Workshop that teaches girls in the community about love their body and their selves and
to educate them on bullying. There are many more events that the activist in the feminist
community hold for thing like transgender equality, and gay pride, educational events for equal
learning. Feminism is about equality and ending sexism and they are very successful in doing
their part to make a change in the community. One feminist supported group is called To Write
Love on Her Arms To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to
presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury,
and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into
treatment and recovery.(TWLOHA.) This is a group trying to reduce suicide thought the world,
they travel around the world talking to people of all ages and helping them through the hard
times, letting them know they are not alone. UNCC has a group on campus that meets every
Thursday where someone from the organization comes and anyone it welcome to come to the

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meeting. We live in a difficult world, a broken world. We believe everyone can relate to pain,
all of us live with questions, and all of us get stuck in moments. You need to know you're not
alone in the places you feel stuck. We all wake to the human condition. We wake to mystery and
beauty, but also to tragedy and loss. Millions of people live with problems of pain. Millions of
homes are filled with questionsmoments, and seasons, and cycles that come as thieves and aim
to stay. We know pain is very real. It is our privilege to suggest that hope is real and help is
real.(TWLOHA.) They travel all around the world speaking and trying to spread the word and
trying to reach out to people who feel alone, and struggle with depression. There are so many
feminism supported groups that help society deal with issues of all kinds. No matter age or
gender, feminism benefits everyone in some way, and there are so many ways anyone could get
involved, like donating, volunteering or doing something as simple as signing a pledge to do
your part in helping.
With all the information presented, there are so many facts that prove feminism is for
everyone and it is a movement everyone should be a part of. Just because of the fact of lack of
knowledge in todays generation, and many people not knowing the true definition of feminism,
just what they hear about the generalized idea that society has towards feminist, no one knows
the true benefits feminism has for not only women but men and society as a whole. and about
how many people and different organizations are already involved in the feminist movement.
This is a world-wide movement meant to benefit everyone and make society become aware of all
the sexist issues in the world that happen daily. Feminism doesnt judge by gender, race,
sexuality, religion or anything else the world groups us in; feminism is meant to make everyone
equal and to give everyone the same chance and benefits. Everyone should want their future

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daughter to be able to be paid the same amount as any male. Also every women should have the
say to her body, and everyone should be able to be able to marry whoever they love no matter the
gender. Every person should be able to identify as the gender they truly feel they are. And there
is so many more things being a feminist means, and it all is empowering the world and doing our
part to give people who dont have a say, a voice in the world.

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Work Cited
"23 Ways Feminism Has Made the World a Better Place for Men." Mic. N.p., n.d. Web.
23 Oct. 2014.
"Feminist Challenges around the World." Globalization101. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct.
2014.
"Feminist Majority Foundation - Breaking News, Feminism from Affirmative Action to
Sexual Harassment to Women's Sports." Feminist Majority Foundation - Breaking News,
Feminism from Affirmative Action to Sexual Harassment to Women's Sports. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
West Side School for the Desperate. "Mindy Nettifee - For Young Women Who Don't
Consider Themselves Feminists (The Last Nerve)." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 03
Oct. 2014.
"Home." Twloha.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

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Reflection
Throughout the process of writing this paper I learned a lot about feminism and
who all it helped in the world. Especially about them helping people in other countrys
that was something I wasnt fully aware of. I thought this project was not as hard as I
thought it was going to be mainly because of the amount of time and the project before
how we had already found sources that worked for the same group.
I really liked being able to get advice from someone who had a topic very similar
to mine I did think that helped and just doing peer review in general helped because you
get a different opinion on how to make it better. Being able to choose your own topic
made this paper more interesting to me and it made it to where I didnt mind typing it
because I was learning about something I actually cared about.
I think this project will benefit me in the future on how I pick my sources and
pick the ones that work the best and are the most reliable. Also how to manage my time
and not try to finish things last minute.

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