Wednesday 23-11-2022 - 09:23

As long as I can remember, I’ve had this drive to make positive change in the world. Since I was young, I’ve had a desire to be an advocate for women’s rights. But, I’ve never quite known how to express this outwardly. During my high school years, I would lock myself in my room and immerse myself in books about famous feminists, then wonder how I could ever measure up. How do you push to progress women’s rights when you don’t have a platform? How do you help when you have strong beliefs but you don’t know where to begin?

 

This is what I’ve learnt through the years about how to advocate for women’s rights in the modern age.

 

The common misconception about feminism is that you have to be extreme: every decision you make has to be a feminist statement, an act of defiance, your life has to completely revolve around feminism or you’re doing it wrong. But the ability to create change resides in all of us, and starts with everyday, seemingly inconsequential moments.

A good place to start is by exploring feminist literature. This will educate, enrage and empower you all at once to join the cause. Everybody should also recognise that feminism is not just a woman's fight. Men are also affected by gender inequality, and need to be involved in the conversation should we wish to achieve equality.

 

Advocating for women’s rights begins at home. It's about starting conversations, and feminism part of your everyday interactions with the people you’re close to. Maybe you’ve been reading the news about the recent abortion bans in the USA following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. It might feel like a difficult topic to navigate, but talking is the best place to start. Discuss this with your friends and family, and share your thoughts and feelings.

 

Feminism does not require you to change anything about yourself or to give anything up. Remember that feminism, in simple terms, is the belief in the equality of all genders. Where in that definition does it say you can’t wear makeup or shave your legs? Gender roles and the concepts of feminine and masculine are constructs, invented and developed by society. You’re in charge of your own gender expression. You’re not required to reject all femininity in order to be a “real feminist”. Feminism is about the freedom to choose.

 

Listen to women. Listen to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women. Listen to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer women. Think about women’s rights on a global scale. Listen when marginalised women share their experiences and their perspectives of what true equality means to them. It can be uncomfortable, but this has forced me to acknowledge my privilege as a white woman living in the UK. We should celebrate the progress towards gender equality that has already been made, but the reality is the fight is not over until we have gender equality in every corner of the globe. This is what it means to be an intersectional feminist.

 

It’s also important to recognise your own prejudice. In the words of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: “If you criticise X in women but do not criticise X in men, then you do not have a problem with X, you have a problem with women”. Consider your choice of language, and the connotations behind it, carefully. Too often are women seen as argumentative while men are assertive; women are spinsters while men are bachelors; women are hysterical while men are passionate. None of these descriptions are fair, appropriate nor accurate.  

 

And lastly, be gentle with yourself. The principles of gender inequality have been indoctrinated into many women from youth. Dismantling those harmful beliefs we have been taught will take time. Understand and accept that you’ll make mistakes. Sometimes, you might accidentally say “the wrong thing”. It’s fine to make mistakes - we’re all human. But whatever you do, don’t let the fear of saying the wrong thing hold you back from saying anything at all. Instead, listen when someone corrects you, acknowledge you have made a mistake and learn from it. And allow others the same grace when they make a mistake too.

 

Together, we can keep pushing for gender equality, in our own small ways, because that is how the feminist movement is carried on. It is continued by the collective effort of people of all genders creating ripple effects that lead to greater change.

 

This article was contributed by Women's Officer Alex Cooke.