What does it mean to be a feminist?

First of all, I need to address my serious lack of inconsistency with this blog. I created it at two in the morning when I couldn't sleep and said to myself..."I'll work on this at least once a week, and it will be amazing." However, as with most things I do, it's very shortlived. My attention span is that of a flea, and I think even that's being generous. Nevertheless, as summer has crept up on us I will make a conscious effort to try and update this every week. I say this, but please set the bar extremely low!

Now that's out of the way...
Feminism.
What is feminism? What does it mean to be a feminist? Why do I support it in the first place? Hopefully this post will address some of the questions that you have about feminism...if you do have any, leave in the comments below.
Feminism, in its most traditional and basic definition is equal rights for both men and women. The movement simply wishes and strives for both men and women to exist on this earth as equal beings, whether this be politically, economically or socially. It is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as: "The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes." This is the most basic definition of feminism, and therefore gives a hell of a lot of room for interpretation which has led to a variety of strands of feminism, all of which hold a different view of what feminism means. These range from the more moderate ideas of liberal feminism to the significantly more radical ideas of (efficiently named) radical feminism and militant feminism. However, whichever strand of feminism you subscribe to, its important to know that each strand has one thing in common: they all wish to further the advancement and power of women in society, and personally, that is something to be commended upon.
Feminism for me is an extremely personal thing and is something that I am extremely passionate about. I believe that to prevent women from reaching their full potential and preventing from striving to achieve incredible things is morally reprehensible. Why should one sex be held back in society because of the biological fact that women can reproduce and men cannot? What gives men the right to judge women as inferior when they don't even give women a chance to prove themselves in the first place. Consequently, my goal as a feminist is to challenge this view and help to break down social and political barriers so that no woman in the future has to live with prejudice, stereotypes and gender constraints that has caused so much pain and suffering throughout history.
Feminism and identifying yourself as a feminist should not carry any form of stigma and should not be a label to be threatened by or sneered at, it should be worn as a badge of pride in the fact that you are against the subjugation of women and wish for men and women to be equals. I passionately support pro-feminist and equal right campaigns such as the HeForShe UN campaign which Emma Watson is the face of and seeks to involve more men in the drive for equal gender rights and I am part of the WEP (Women's Equality Party) in Bath in order to promote the spread of equal rights for women during my university years.
Whilst I am fairly pro-active in campaigning for feminism; it is so incredibly easy to carry on the movement and to promote it so that it reaches new levels. The main way of which being to simply challenge stereotypes. If someone says you can't do something, ignore them and prove them wrong. If Suffragettes such as Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Davidson didn't break down stereotypes then women wouldn't have got the vote until much later.

Hopefully you enjoyed this and stay tuned for my next blog.

Chloe :)