The women's freedom movement continues, despite all the criticism and oppression.
100 years ago, people laughed at the idea of women voting, and 50 years ago, the word "feminist" entered our lexicon and was often used as an insult. However, now many women proudly shout out that they are feminists!
"I have always identified myself as a feminist, yet I was scared of using this word because people reacted strongly. However, to be honest, it is pretty simple: it is a movement that defends the idea that men and women should be equal."
Beyonce, after she had a "feminist awakening" as she puts it, describes feminism in her song Flawless as follows:
"We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls 'You can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful, otherwise you will threaten the man.' Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices, always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support. But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don't teach boys the same?"
She also talks about the fact that she has always had a feminist stand without being aware of it, and that she also had her doubts about openly proclaiming herself as a feminist since the word was used as an insult. It was because of Lena Dunham that she learned the actual meaning of this word. She states that it is very important for women to learn what feminism means and that they feel strong. She is very content with the rise of feminism!
"Women saying ‘I’m not a feminist’ is my greatest pet peeve. Do you believe that women should be paid the same for doing the same jobs? Do you believe that women should be allowed to leave the house? Do you think that women and men both deserve equal rights? Great, then you’re a feminist. People think there is something taboo about speaking up for feminism. I know for a long time that I was embarrassed to call out misogyny because I was then going to be that complaining girl who can’t let it go. But the fact is, we can’t let it go – not until we feel like we have been heard.”
"I’m speaking for a bunch of girls when I say that the idea that feminism is completely natural and shouldn’t even be something that people find mildly surprising, it’s just a part of being a girl in 2013."
"Mick Jagger is still allowed to make music and have fun. I guess, if you are a woman, you aren't allowed to have fun after you turn 50. If you are Mick Jagger, you can have a 25-year old girlfriend. However, if I do the same people will call me 'a slut, prostitute or whore.'"
"I don't know why people are so reluctant to say they're feminists. Maybe some women just don't care. But how could it be any more obvious that we still live in a patriarchal world when feminism is a bad word?" she asks in her quiet voice that belies the firm opinions it is often expressing. "Feminism always gets associated with being a radical movement – good. It should be. A lot of what the radical feminists [in the 1970s] were saying, I don't disagree with it."
"People always ask me about my weight. Why don't you ask the same questions to male artists?"
"I mean, guy rappers grab their crotch all f*cking day and have hos around them, but no one talks about it. But if I grab my crotch and I have hot model b*tches around me, I’m degrading women? I’m a woman—I should be able to have girls around me! But I’m part of the evolution of that. I hope."
She has worked and talked a lot about feminism, we don't know which one to quote.
"I was in high school and I was fifteen. Many of my girl friends stopped doing sports in order not to look 'too masculine.' When I was 18, I noticed that my male friends were too scared to express their feelings. I decided that I was a feminist."
"I don't get the trend 'I am not a feminist, but...' It is exactly the same as saying 'I don't believe in cars but I drive one everyday. It takes me everywhere fast, I don't know what I would do without one.'"
"When you have a daughter, how do you teach her that she has complete control over her body? She has to know that she is in charge of her own body and existence so that when she gets out there, she doesn't let anybody dominate her."
"[My dad] was an angry, unhappy and frustrated man who was not able to control his emotions or his hands. As a child I witnessed his repeated violence against my mother, and the terror and misery he caused was such that, if I felt I could have succeeded, I would have killed him.... Worse, there were those who condoned the abuse. I heard police or ambulancemen, standing in our house, say, "She must have provoked him," or, "Mrs Stewart, it takes two to make a fight." They had no idea. The truth is my mother did nothing to deserve the violence she endured. She did not provoke my father, and even if she had, violence is an unacceptable way of dealing with conflict. Violence is a choice a man makes and he alone is responsible for it."
"Violence against women is taught. It thrives on silence. We have to change this. I call on all men to support women!"
"My mom brought me up to be a feminist. She would always point out to my brother and me that our culture does often portray women like objects. For example, we would always watch Lakers games as a family, but my mom would always point out every time the cheerleaders come on, ‘OK, so look, here’s the story that gets told: The men get to be the heroic skilled athletes and the women just get to be pretty.’ She didn’t mean any offense to any individual woman who was working as a cheerleader, but she wanted me and my brother to be aware of it because we see these images on TV, in the movies, and on magazines all the time. And if you don’t stop and think about it, it just sort of seeps into your brain and that becomes the way you perceive reality. I do call myself a feminist. Absolutely! It’s worth paying attention to the roles that are sort of dictated to us and that we don’t have to fit into those roles. We can be anybody we wanna be."
"Male writers — and I say this with all love and respect — often want to make a woman either the angel or the whore, make her the witch, or put her on the pedestal. When people ask me about Margaery, I say they’re not mutually exclusive. You don’t have to be practical and politically savvy and not be a good person. You can be a good human being and just be shrewd."
