February 13, 2018
Joy Webb
One woman fighting the rest of the world is impossible. But women coming together is a different story.
In today’s society, we are seeing a shift in the support of equality on a variety of spectrums.
Actresses like Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey and more are taking a stance on the recent expose of sexual assault in Hollywood through the Time’s Up movement.
We’ve seen women across the board show solidarity for those who have suffered from sexual misconduct through the #MeToo movement as well.
Their actions show that the focus of feminism is to end an injustice that haunts our society.
Feminism is about women supporting women, men supporting women and a platform of equality no matter what a person’s gender may be.
The movement began after a total of 84 women, including Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevingne, came forward to speak out about producer Harvey Weinstein’s treatment of them, including sexual assaults.
The instances of sexual assault have unfortunately expanded outside of Hollywood. Recently, we saw former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar sentenced to 175 years in prison for molesting 150 young girls.
“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up,” said Winfrey at her Golden Globes acceptance speech.
Women and men alike wore black at the 2018 Golden Globes and white roses at the Grammys to further show this solidarity. The main message of this movement is “we support you.” This takes feminism to a whole other level and gives it a different connotation.
Feminism should be about women and men alike fighting for a change because women have been silenced for fear of judgment.
Feminism is now about putting a stop to this injustice; it’s about being brave and speaking up while knowing you’re not alone.
While the realization that these assaults occurred is heartbreaking, it’s also very empowering. These women who have come forward have inspired other women to speak up and ban together against this injustice.
Redefining feminism means teaching a younger generation that it is normal to speak up against injustice. Feminism is a resistance of those who have had enough of inequality and know they deserve better.
Time’s up.