CALEIGH GEARHEART and LIZZIE WILDE –
CV Student Media –
The word “feminism” is an extremely controversial term in the 20th century. By definition, feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.
Students of Castle View High School have all differing opinions. Freshman Louis Gearheart believes that “both women and men should be equal, like at our work. Women shouldn’t be cut short of pay because of what they are and men shouldn’t get a little more because of what they are. We should all have more equal opportunities to succeed.”
To some students, feminism is not just a word, but is something to live by, a state of mind.
“God, I love it. It’s part of my livelihood. To be honest, it’s a strong portion of my identity and I don’t know who I would be without it,” said Rachael Robinson ‘16. Feminism can be interpreted in varying ways, and though not everyone believes in it, those who do live by what they feel feminism means to them.
“I believe in some of the basic foundational ideals of it but I don’t agree that men should be shamed in the process or that girls are higher than men,” said Lauren De Diego ‘16. She incorporates her religious beliefs alongside her view on feminism. “In the Bible, it says the man is the man of the house, and though a woman should be empowered and strengthened by her man and able to follow her dreams, she is still under his leadership spiritually. It’s confusing and sounds lame when it’s taken out of context, but I’m never going to be higher than my husband in ‘control’ aspect, but I also expect him to treat me like a queen at the same time. By any lame kid who bashes women and think they can’t do the same things men can, then I disagree fully. Don’t you tell me I can’t lift this box when I pray twenty hours a week and can do anything I put my mind to, honey. I believe in empowering women in countries or situations where the men abuses his power, because that’s not what God intended for His people.”
Although feminism is centered around supporting women, it does not disclude men.
“It’s something I’d have to evaluate on a case-by-case basis. Of course I’m for equal rights, however, on multiple instances, self-proclaimed feminists have seemed less concerned with equality and more towards being superior or giving women an advantage,” said Tyler Dhunjishaw ‘17.
To Indy Dunn ‘16, feminism was not a main concern in the area that we live in.
“I think this really depends on the person but for me personally, it is a powerful way to make women heard. And while here, in the United States, women’s’ rights are considerably better than other places,” she said. “It would appear that it’s up to all of us to give women with no rights whatsoever a chance.”
Emma Perdue ‘16 agreed. “On a larger scale, it would be more focused on women who are more oppressed because I feel like small scale American feminism/rape culture is the only thing talked about within our daily lives and we should focus on other situations. For example, child prostitution in Asia is a huge problem. In America, we are much more progressive than a lot of other places.”
Feminism is a very broad topic, and has many different opinions surrounding it. Gender equality is an objective that most students at Castle View High School seem to want to uphold, though there are many more interpretations of the word “feminism” throughout the school.