Morgan Simpson--Info--Spring 2018 The “F” Word

Okay I’m going to state the obvious. I’m a woman. Glad we got that
out of the way. Recently I was reading some articles on the internet that
talked about the F-word. No not that one. Feminism. Reading the articles
made me question was I a feminist? Do you have to talk down men to
become a feminist? Does feminism reach more important topics than just
women’s rights? There are many definitions of feminism.The first one being
from Missouri Senate candidate, Courtland Sykes who stated that his
definition of feminists was that they are “nail-biting, manophobic, hell-bent,
she devils.” Where as, Justin Trudeau. Who we all know as the Prime
Minister of Canada. Said that “being a feminist for me means recognising
that men and women should be, can be, must be equal, and secondly, that
we still have an awful lot of work to do.” In this speech I am going to talk
about about the history of feminism, modern day feminism, and the junk
drawer of feminism. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this march through history.

To fully grasp the concept of Feminism I think I’m going to have to

bring it way back. So let’s get into our little tree house and travel to the
beginning of mankind. Adam and Eve. That’s right I am bringing it back to
Sunday school days. Historians argue that this was the first time a woman
was documented trying to break the mold. It took until the 14th and 15th
century for the first female Philosopher, named Christine de Pisan who
fought for female education. Fast forward to the Renaissance. No I’m not
going to talk about Leonardo, Donatello, or Michelangelo. No 90’s kids I’m
not talking about the Ninja Turtles. I’m talking about the enlightenment
period.According to Britanica. Women started demanding the new rules,
enforced, liberty, equality, and natural right for both sexes.Fast forward to a
small town in New York, Seneca Falls. Which was the marching grounds for
the women’s rights convention. Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and
many others were the founding sisters of the suffrage movement. Americans
seeing that being polite was getting them nowhere decided to create mass
destruction, parades, and confrontations. Finally in 1920 the 19th
amendment was passed. We got the right to vote. Last stop on the parade is
called the Second wave. These women were “college educated mothers
whose upbringings propelled their daughters in a new direction.” according
to Britanica. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights of 1964 helped
the women to get equal pay.

Now I’m going to tell about 3 areas of inequality for women:

education, sexual abuse, and the wage gap

Number one: education.Malala Yousafzai the youngest person to

win a Nobel. said that “I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that
those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are
held back.” Malala is twenty years old. Yet when she was twelve she stood
up against the Taliban fighting for young girls to be able to get an education.
Number two: Sexual abuse. I’m sure you have heard about the #MeToo
movement. This movement isn’t just about celebrities taking down movie
producers and actors. It’s about them letting normal people, that it’s
perfectly fine to tell police, your parents, and friends what happened. That
it’s not okay for someone to tell you that it’s your fault. According to the
Rape Abuse National Network 82% of all children rape cases are little girls,
90% of adult rape cases are women.This year Larry Nassar game ot
sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing 125+ girls. Among
those girls are three-fifth of the fierce five, who won the gold medal in
London. Last the wage gap. Feminism is also about improving the wage
gap between men and women. Personally before reading these articles I
really didn’t think that there was a problem. Sadly there is. According to the
American Association of University 20% is the wage gap difference. The
most recent activity that has happened was the Women’s march. A million
women, little girls, and men marched in Los Angeles, Washington D.C, New
York. Picture this a five year old sitting on their parents shoulders holding a
sign that said “Little girls with dreams become women with vision.” or a
grandma holding up a sign that says “ I will not go quietly back to the
1950’s.”

In the intro I mentioned the junk drawer. Yes.. you heard me right.
You know that drawer where your parents push miscellaneous things in.
Well I’m going to do that but with facts about feminism. Think of it like a
cross between a junk drawer and lightning round for a trivia game. Around
the world women are fighting to gain every day rights. In Yemen, women
need permission from a family member to leave their house, In the Vatican
City, women aren’t allowed to vote or get a divorce, Women in Swaziland
aren’t aloud to wear pants. Pakistan elected their first women Prime Minister
in 1988. The first woman to win a Nobel Prize was Marie Curie. Gertrude B.
Elion was the person who discovered anti rejection medicine for organ
transplants. One more fun fact: Merriam-Webster word of the year for the
2017 year is “Feminism” The #metoo movement was named Time’s person
of the year.

Actress Emma Watson described feminism best “if you stand for
equality then you are a feminist.” We should all be feminists! We should all
stand for equality. The fact is that feminism is NOT about hating men.
When hate enters the picture, it pits men and women against each other. My
task today was not to convince you that feminism is good or bad, but rather
to inform you that historically, the feminist movement is really a reminder
about living the truth that we are all created equal.