By Addie Mae Villas | USA

Feminism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is 1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes and 2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests. Feminism was Merriam-Webster’s Word of the year due to the number of searches as well as the increase in feminist actions, but often times, modern-day feminists only organize on behalf of the people who side with them. In a poll done by the Washington Post, 43% of women consider themselves feminists while 30% do not consider themselves to be feminists at all. Due to the actions of modern feminists, there’s no doubt that so many women turn from the word.

Over the span of the past year, there have been numerous times that the so-called champions of equality have torn down their own just because they have a different opinion. Chelsea Handler, a proclaimed feminist, has always been quick to tear down those she disagrees with by making attacks against their looks. Sure, one may not agree with the stances of someone, but in no way is it in anyone’s interest to degrade another person. Even with that, feminists of the left often forget about all the accomplishments of women that are being made across the aisle. Nancy Pelosi interrupted a White House dinner with the statement “Does anybody listen to women when they speak around here?” and when news of that broke, so many applauded the bold statement. Yet, they seem to conveniently forget that Nikki Haley is the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Sarah Huckabee Sanders is one of the three female White House Press Secretaries in history, Kellyanne Conway is the first female to successfully manage a US presidential campaign, and Hope Hicks is currently serving as the White House Communications Director. With so many strong women making their mark in history, it’s time that feminists put down their feud with the right and acknowledge the strides being made.

Feminists in America are so adamantly fighting for equality in the workplace, stating that men are paid more than their female counterparts. Although the wage gap has been proven wrong, and legislation has been put in place to ensure equal pay, they still insist that more needs to be done. Since equality is already created, what more do they want? Living in the United States, women see liberties that are not prevalent elsewhere. But the hypocrisy of the leftist feminists is that they never fight for equal opportunity or the best interests of the ones that truly need feminism. Looking at what’s happening in Tehran, women all over are fighting the government for their freedoms. The events in Iran should be cheered from women all over, especially the feminists of America. But, what makes the whole situation worse is that women in America play the victim card of being a woman as a cop-out when situations are not ideal to their circumstances.

My final qualm with modern day feminism is the image that comes along with it. As stated before, the feminists of today have given themselves an image of degrading women and acting out. With the Women’s March, we saw around four million people march in D.C. to advocate for women’s rights. But, of course, the feminists were not fully inclusive. They disregarded a pro-life group that was also feminist. Of course in the modern day version of feminism, one must completely comply with the leftist agenda. Besides the fact that by banning the group they embraced the very hypocrisy they claim to fight, forgetting that the group simply wanted their own form of equality. Personally, I believe the Women’s March was a wasted opportunity. They gave a negative connotation to the feminist movement with their explicit hats and toxic masculinity mantra. They also missed entirely the mark as to why the march was occurring. By creating a platform that strictly followed the agenda of modern day liberalism, organizers made it increasingly difficult for women across the aisle to participate, despite fully believing in equality.

When addressing the problem of modern-day feminism it comes down to being a victim, or moving past the identity politics and being more than one’s gender. Stephen Covey once said “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” By not allowing things such as gender or race to get in the way of success, real progress would be made.