Feminism is a social, political, and intellectual movement whose goal is the equality of the two genders. It seeks to identify, challenge and dismantle systems of discrimination and inequality that disadvantage women while also addressing restrictive gender roles that affect everyone. However, a lot of people misunderstand the term feminism believing that its goal is to place women above men rather than to put both genders on an equal footing. 

The history of feminism starts with Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Wollstonecraft is considered the founder of feminism since she is the author of “A vindication of the rights of women” that was published in 1792. In this book she argues that women need equal rights to men and that class and private property are the basis of discrimination. Later on, four waves of feminism occurred. The first wave occurred during the 19th century and was led by suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, and Emmeline Pankhurst. This wave focused on women’s legal and political rights and most specifically on their right to vote. Then the second wave came to be, in the mid-20th century, expanding the fight to the workplace, family and cultural expectations. The thinkers are Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan and Bell Hooks. All of them insisted that equality must reach all areas of life. During the 1990s the third wave began. In this wave, women highlighted diversity, self- expression and it recognised that women’s experience differs across race, class, sexuality and culture. Lastly, in our days the fourth wave has started. Feminism even today continues globally with movements such as #metoo, digital activism in order to end harassment, violence and systemic inequality.

There is a variety of people that still believe that feminism is unnecessary due to their belief that women nowadays have equal rights to men. That statement is not true yet some people still tend to believe that, even when instances that disprove this are fairly common. The rates of domestic violence against women around the world are extremely high. At least 1 out of 3 women in the EU has experienced physical or sexual violence, since the age of 15/ That number is based on the cases that were reported. However, there are many more cases that were not. Another reason why feminism is needed is the unequal representation of women in leadership positions. Even though there has been some progress, women are still underrepresented in leadership positions, which constitutes the glass ceiling phenomenon a very real one . This lack of female voices around these decision-making topics limits diversity of thought, while also slowing progress towards true equality down. Due to this phenomenon, on average, women earn at least 12% to 13% less than men even though they both work as hard.Women are usually selected for the low- income jobs while men are selected for managerial positions, giving them more dominance over the workplace. 

Another major branch, where women are severely outnumbered, is STEM fields. The ratio even goes as high as 4:1 in certain nations.  

It cannot go without saying that women hold less than 40% of the seats in national parliaments in most countries in Europe, while abortion is being banned in more and more nations.This clearly shows that a lack of women in such positions, seriously undermines the effective representation of females in political matters. Being catcalled and publicly harassed has now become an everyday occurrence, with commuting even turning into a dangerous activity for those who do not take precautions. 

In conclusion, feminism has time and time again proven its importance to the battle of attaining equality. Feminism has always been about just that, and will never represent ideas of placing women over men. While certain misandrists abuse feminism’s alias, it is not what this movement stands for. It is of dire importance that the efforts of those before us are not in vain, and that the willpower of its supporters will pass the idea of a world that treats both man and woman as equals onto future generations.  

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