Many Women Don't Identify As Feminists, And They Got Solid Reasons

Feminism is the idea of demanding equal rights for men and women. However, the misinterpretation of the idea in the modern world has made it a complicated concept, a significant reason for why a few women don't identify as feminists.

The actual concept of feminism means equal opportunity for men and women, this means cerebral and legal rights and not particularly physical and mental traits. To have equity  We have seen many people going against feminism, claiming it to be a threat to equality. While some of these claims are because feminism goes against patriarchy, others are because feminism is shown in a distorted light. Though feminism supports women's progress, not all women identify themselves as feminists. A recent Reddit thread discussed the reasons behind it.

A Reddit thread on @AskWomen asked why some women do not call themselves feminists. Women gave some solid reasonfor not being feminists despite standing for equal rights and opportunities for women.

Why Women Don't Identify As Feminist?

Lacks Inclusion Of Indigenous Women
A user wrote that though feminism is trying hard to provide equal opportunity for women, it still lacks the inclusion of Indigenous women. A black woman herself, the user said that she believes that it is majorly a pro-White agenda. This is actually based on the lack of feminist leadership of colour worldwide. Women of colour still don't get a larger platform to put their views, nor dos the feminist ideas of the modern world align with their needs.

Increased Demeaning Of Opposite Gender
Another thing that a user mentioned as a reason for not being a feminist is the increased demeaning of the opposite gender in the name of feminism. Feminism does not mean loathing or hating men but recently, many women have misinterpreted feminism as hate against the male gender. That is a problematic notion because feminism is against patriarchy which oppresses men and women equally. Feminism actually means going against gender biases and discrimination and it includes equality for men as well. However, we can easily find women who preach hatred towards men in the name of feminism and that's why women feel like calling themselves feminist means hating men which they don't do.

Feminists Looking Down On Homemakers 
A user wrote that though she stands with equality for women, she thinks that stay-at-home-mothers and housewives are actually pitied and victimised by many modern feminists. They consider women who earn and are financially independent as feminist while homemakers are considered to be living in restrictions, even if they choose this life. It is actually true that when a person sees an educated woman living as a housewife or stay-at-home-mother, they assume that she was asked to do so against her will and her husband is not a good father. However, choosing to be a housewife and quitting your job to look after your kids is also a free choice and women should not be shamed for it and it does not make them any less feminist.

The idea of feminism is highly misinterpreted. Feminism is about standing against patriarchy and gender biases together, not demeaning another gender to glorify women. It means fighting for women's right to be independent and men's right to be vulnerable. It does not mean hating men. It means believing in the idea of free choice for women, whether she chooses to continue her job after motherhood or she chooses to quit after conceiving. Feminism means equity for all and equality has different meanings for different people. While white women fight for abortion rights, Black women and women of colour fight for equal job opportunities, goals are different but feminism is the same. Feminism is making choices out of free-will, all women can have their own type of feminism, it can't be labelled or put into the box of theories.

Feminism does not mean justifying everything that women do. It means condemning the wrong patriarchal ideas, not normalising them for women. If men sexually harassing women is a crime, so are women sexually harassing men, you cannot decriminalise these actions in the name of feminism. Instead, you demand unbiased, strict actions against offenders of any gender. These false notions of feminism popularised in the modern world is why people consider it a twisted idea and don't identify themselves as feminists.

Suggetsed Reading : Redesign Your Job Ads to Reduce Gender Bias