Feminism is not "Special Equality"

The other day, I heard feminism described as "Special Equality" and the phrase "Men need Equality too." Both these phrases surprised me. I've covered what feminism is before, but I felt the need to do it again and clarify exactly what feminism is.

Feminism takes many forms but its main mission is for social, political and economic equality between all genders. Oftentimes there are women who will argue that women are overall better than men, but that is misandry, not feminism.

Feminism is quite literally another way of saying gender equality, those some people might argue that fact.

On to the phrase "Special Equality." This is a completely contrary statement. Equality cannot be special. 'Special treatment' is when one person is treated better than another, and 'Equal treatment' is when both people are treated the same, making it literally impossible for this statement to be true.

Additionally, the phrase "Men need Equality too." Feminism is equality for all genders. It may have started as a movement for women's rights, but that is because at the time the movement started that was the most pressing issue. Feminism is anti-double standards against both men and women. I think one issue that may lead to people seeing feminism as female-only is the female oriented term for it. The femin- of feminism comes from the words Femina meaning woman, and sounds more feminine.

I've also heard someone say "Men deserve rights too." This statement shows a complete lack of awareness - women are not trying to gain more rights than men. Men have rights. We don't want more. We want the same rights. We want all the rights that men have.

This is your reminder to understand what feminism is and think before you speak on it. Women aren't asking for more than men. We are asking for the same. We are asking for equality. And that is feminism.