The Word "Feminist"

I've created this space to leave information and thoughts on feminism.

So, I've ran into may anti-feminists.  Some of them asking, what is patriarchy?  How do men have power?  Do women want power?  How are these problems fixed?  Is there a such thing as rape culture?  How are women not already equal?

So....

The Word "Feminist"
     I just want to start with this.  The word "Feminist" has a negative connotation amongst a large portion of society.  I personally believe this is a backlash/win for anti-feminists to hinder the progression of women's rights.  To me, a feminist is someone who cares about men and women having an equal part or at least an equal chance at participation in society.  All aspects of society.

     Many people says feminists believe in gender equality.  This is true, but it can be confusing because men and women are obviously different in a lot of ways.  For instance, men don't get pregnant.  That means that a pregnant woman in the work environment can't be treated the same way as a (non-pregnant) male in the work environment.  In order for a pregnant female to keep working, she may need to accomplish different tasks than someone who is not pregnant.  I've heard many arguments starting with, "Women want equal rights, but - ."  Yes, if you try to dissect the exact meaning of equality, you run into many problems.  The underlying ideology is that a man can go to work, get promotions, have a family, and continue his life with no setbacks or discrimination.  However, a female wishing to have a family may have to quit her job if there are no safety nets in place to support her going through pregnancy.  Therefore, men and women do not have an equal chance at being successful or to continue their lives with no setbacks or discrimination.
     Feminists want women to have the same respect that men have in the workplace environment, but to say they wanted to be "treated like a man" can be misconstrued.  People often play a game of semantics when it comes to talking about feminists and what they want.  Feminists believe in women and men being able to equally participate in society without fear of being set back because of their "woman-ness" (or equally men not being able to do something because of their "manliness").

Whatever you want to call yourself.  It's not the word "feminist" or "feminism" itself that is important, but rather, the ideas underlying the word.

People Who Argue Against Feminism because of the Word Feminist

     There are many people who are against feminism because they sincerely believe that men are better than women.  There are many people who are against feminism not because they think men are better than women but because they think we have gender roles that must be fulfilled.  Women should stay at home, and men should go to work.  There are many people against feminism because there are certain aspects of feminist beliefs with which they disagree.  Feminists take a pro-choice stance on abortion.  This means that many people who support women being able to equally progress in the workplace environment, may not choose to call themselves feminists because they don't believe in abortion.
     Then there are people who are against feminism because they don't like the word feminist.  I've seen many tumblrs that say "I don't need feminism because I respect men."  Nowhere in the feminist ideology does feminism support the hatred of men.  It is because of stereotypes like these that many people backlash against feminism without understanding what feminists are trying to accomplish.  Or when the word feminist is brought into a an argument, those who may have originally supported that particular cause are turned away from it because the word "feminist" was used to describe a women's issue.  Distaste for the word "feminist" greatly hampers the progression of women's issues because feminists specialize in trying to better women's issues.