Opinion

[Column] Feminism

I am about to share something that I have never actually told anybody: I am a feminist. I probably have been all my life, I simply didn’t realise it.

Contrary to popular belief, feminism has nothing to do with dried-up angry women with pitchforks planning to overthrow society and suppressing men-kind. I used to have the same prejudices and many people still do.


It might sound like a social or political statement to say I’m a feminist, but I simply never saw the use of treating women any different. I was brought up in social liberty and equality. My parents live only just on the ‘good’ side of town. As a result, the public school I went to was very diverse. It was brilliant: there was no judgement on skin colour or socio-economic background because there simply were no minority groups at all. Don’t get me wrong, fist fights and bullying were just as much an issue here as anywhere else, it just happened to anyone instead of to just one scapegoat. I used to pick fights with classmates all the time and then play with them later that same day.


My parents never forbade me to play with any of my classmates, whatever their gender, skin colour or social background. Furthermore, they didn’t judge me if I tried on my sisters’ clothes and didn’t mind whether I played with cars or dolls or gardening equipment. Since prejudice and social hierarchy weren’t taught to me, I was actually oblivious to them.


This liberal upbringing also left me with a lack of structure in general and issues with authority, but let’s not get into that. My eldest sister often kicked my butt when we were children. We were very competitive in everything, but we were also very well matched. It never occurred to me that society treated women differently than men because in my eyes the only difference was between your legs. And why judge someone just because they can’t pee standing up?


The entire social structure of courtesy towards women still seems ridiculous to me. I don’t feel the need to ‘protect’ women in my vicinity. I don’t walk on the street-side of the pavement to shield the female next to me from danger. I hold the door for someone when there is a need for it, such as when someone is carrying piles of paper or has a disability, not because the person behind me either has a penis or does not. But it’s not just courtesy.


Catcalling has always baffled me as well. Firstly because I find it awkward to actually shout at the person I’m ogling, but mostly because it’s simply uncalled for. It seems incredibly invasive to call out to passers-by just because you are struck by their appearance. I’m not even going to start on the whole corporate culture of asking women for physical favours in exchange for being taken seriously on the work floor. Some people need a serious reality check.


Feminism merely promotes equality between men and women. Equality at a societal level: social, political and economic. I was actually gobsmacked when I first heard society still doesn’t fully treat women and men as equal. The fact that women had to fight to get where we are now and are still treated as inferior is firstly quite remarkable and, in my opinion, probably the reason that feminism is so widely misunderstood.


The only reason why women have to fight for equality is exactly the same as the reason that any minority fights: because the people in charge are simply scared of giving others greater influence in the fear of losing the privilege they are so accustomed to. It’s surprising how many people turn out to be feminists once they learn what it actually means.


Boudewijn de Roode is bachelorstudent werktuigbouwkunde. 


Boudewijn de Roode / Student en columnist

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