Feminism

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This Sunday is International Women’s Day and as a way of celebrating this, our term of the week is “feminism”, a word that is too often misunderstood. Feminism has always strived for gender equality, which has nothing to do with tearing down men. Sadly though, the word is commonly misconstrued and confused with the meaning of “misandry”, another form of sexism that, in fact, implies discrimination. According to the Oxford Dictionary, “feminism” means “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes”.

Feminism IATE

The history of the fight for equal rights that we celebrate every March 8th is full of demands and support from the law and institutions. But, mainly, we should thanks to the “feminists” of our history. Thanks to them and their achievements today we can, for example, vote, open up a bank account or go to university. Reasons enough, without a doubt, to remember them.

However, as it is always said on this special day, “there is still a long way to go”, not only when it comes to achieving “formal equality”, with continued struggles such as the wage gap (in occidental countries), but also “real equality”, which is more engaged with a way of seeing, even naming, the world. Putting an end to glass ceilings, sexual harassment or domestic violence are some of the continued endeavors on the path to true equality.

On the other hand, lately we can see a lot of prominent and influential pop culture figures waving the feminist flag, as is the case of Beyoncé in the last MTV Music Awards, who reclaimed the feared “f-word” with a giant luminous sign behind her. This is very positive since if equality is desired, a step in the right direction is recognizing the very word that defines the struggle to reach it and the existence of discrimination in the first place. Don’t you think?

Feminism

We invite you to suggest the equivalent terms in the missing EU languages, or alternatives to the existing term in your language if you consider the proposed term inaccurate. Provide your answer with a reliable reference and an accurate definition and/or context if possible.

By Isabel Beldad

Communication Trainee at TermCoord