In 1848, the first organized women’s conference was held in Seneca Falls, NY at the Wesleyan Chapel. The conference was organized by prominent female figures like Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, two women who met at an Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840.
Almost 200 women attended the conference, which was advertised as “a convention to discuss the social, civil and religious conditions and rights of women,” according to HISTORY Online.
The conference kicked off an official organized feminist movement know as the Women's Suffrage Movement. The suffragists paved way for the 19th Amendment, the right for women to vote in America, to be ratified.
From Seneca Falls, the convention that seemingly kicked off an organized feminist movement
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of feminism is the belief in social, political and economic equality between men and women. Well, with that definition, feminism does not seem so bad, right? Then why is it so hard to say the F-word for some people: Feminism.
It seems there are more campaigns against feminism than for it. Facebook pages like “women against feminism” contain articles written and shared about why people do not need feminism, and there is even a counter-movement coined as “meninism,” which states that they advocate for male rights.
Beyond popular belief, however, feminism is not the angry, man-hating movement that these different pages and groups try to make it out to be.
It is full of strong men and women, including Ryan Gosling, Angelina Jolie, Amy Poehler and more, who speak on women's issues and support different charities that benefit women.
The reasons that we need feminism goes beyond surface level problems like catcalling and inconvenient dress codes - feminism also tackles the wage gap and the lack of women represented in Congress.
An individual must do research on the internet and in literature in order to fully understand the purpose of the movement, beyond how it is portrayed by others.
That is the purpose of this column.
Girl Power Hour is here to raise awareness and provide possible solutions to local and national topics that impact women and the feminist movement as a whole.
The turnout of the women’s march in 2017 in response to the election of President Donald Trump.
This column is here to remind those who may be against the movement, or those who may not be as educated on its goals, as to why it is important, and to leave them with a better feeling on the movement.
We as a society must recognize the strides of women, but also never forget that we are still fighting. We must make the F-word speakable again.
Feminism is not a dirty word, it’s time to stop treating it as such.
