Roughly two weeks ago marked the 3rd anniversary of the Women’s March that started following the devastating 2016 election. The march became a cultural phenomenon after the first year, and ever since it’s been used as a photo op for women who don’t normally consider themselves feminist, or don’t stand up for the plights that women of different backgrounds face. The march has almost spread, unknowingly, the wrong type of feminism. This new wave of feminism has spread mostly because of the new technology we have at our hands. Many men and women have found success through being activists and feminists in many workplaces, especially the film and and singing industries. Because of this, many people want to call themselves feminists simply because everyone around them is. I don’t want to sound ignorant because so far everything I’ve wrote seems misleading; of course there’s always going to be opposition to feminism by misogynistic men, but for the most part, feminism has become a trend. It only works against you when you’re actively being a feminist and being outspoken; that’s what people don’t like. But when you just throw the label of feminism on yourself and attend marches with your girlfriends with cute posters and wear pussy hats and take nice pictures, and when it comes to reality where people get beaten up for being themselves, where are those women? It isn’t feminism anymore, it’s just a way to get more likes on your instagram post because you added the hashtag, #WomensMarch and #GirlsFightBack. So when you look at the pictures from all around the countries with thousands of women marching, you get the impression that a cultural shift is occurring; but is it really? You have to look at your intentions and go to these marches for the right reasons. It has only been 3 years since Trump has entered our office and we marched for the first time. Have we forgotten that anger and passion simply because nothing catastrophic has happened? The fact that nothing has changed and we’re treating our society as normal is a catastrophe itself. You can never stop being angry until you see change, and though you might not see the change in your lifetime, you can’t sacrifice your passion for a chance to take pictures and gain some popularity. Feminism isn’t a joke, and to act like it’s a way to have a girls night out is detrimental to the progress true activists have made. There are definitely lots of men and women who attended the march for all the right reasons, but there are so many other ways to make change. There’s only so much that a march can do and if you are actually passionate about getting the change that women deserve, seek out local organizations where you can volunteer at, or be outspoken on social media, or volunteer for a campaign that works for getting you the rights that you care about. The difference between a feminist and another feminist is the amount of passion the person has. It’s not a measure of how many posters you made with clever lines, but of how much you care about your cause and how far you are willing to go to gain them.
