WTF: What The Feminism

I used to say that I was not a feminist.

At the time, I was convinced that being a feminist involved burning my bras, letting my underarm hair grow wild, and arguing constantly against men. In my mind, it was a dirty label that I was too ashamed to wear.

Now, I am ashamed that I ever thought that I wasn't a feminist.

While U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador Hermione Granger Emma Watson boldly made feminism cool with her viral speech to the United Nations for the launch of the HeForShe campaign, it wasn't until I saw my friend's documentary that I truly realized the error of my ways. 

The six minute and 16 seconds of "WTF: What The Feminism," created by Queen's University film students Shivani Srivastava and Annalise Nielsen, finally made feminism make sense to me. Watching this compilation of quotes, reflections and experiences from a variety of people on both sides of the "feminism debate" left me unexpectedly infuriated and inspired. I found myself angered by some people's ancient perception of feminism and agreeing wholeheartedly with others' arguments for equality.

"The whole point of feminism is that there is no such thing as a 'woman's position' in society in the same way that there is no such thing, really, as a 'men's position'," said one interview subject and as another added, "At it's core, feminism is sort of humanism."

I finally realized, this is not about men or women. It's about people.



 Everyone—women, men, gay, straight, old or young—should be a feminist because having a uterus should not determine how you are treated. What's right is equal rights.

I now realize that to be a feminist, it doesn't have to mean hitting the streets and standing up to the man. It can simply means being unapologetically proud of being a woman.

 I used to say I was not a feminist. I was wrong.