Dear Feminism,
You gave me the right to vote, the confidence to speak, and the liberty to think. You were so strong, promoting equality between men and women. But then, after years of fighting for respect for women, your message changed. You stopped supporting women and encouraged selfishness. You stopped preaching body confidence and started sexualizing women again under the guise of independence. And you developed a regime, placing women into another cage, with shackles just like the ones we fought so hard to escape.
The feminists of today do not appreciate my thoughts. I bring up pro-life beliefs and they say I’m anti-woman. But what could possibly be more anti-woman than destroying the ability for a baby to one day become one? If I don’t support the ripping of children from their mothers’ wombs then I somehow betray women everywhere. Your message changed from acceptance of all to acceptance of those who think, walk, talk, and behave as you decree. We live in a society that preaches sex from the rooftops like it has no consequences, and we explain to women that as they embrace their sexuality more, they become stronger, but really, we train them to view sex as transactional, where if you don’t like the outcome, you can simply return it. Now, we not only objectify women, we objectify the unborn children in their wombs as well.
You say now that by showing my breasts, I assert my independence. By exposing my ass, I gain respect. This line of thinking leads to Cardi B dancing onstage to “WAP”. At some point, you stopped respecting women for ideas and thoughts and told them to use their bodies, to embrace and redefine sex as something more female. But, in the end, this leads to further sexualization of women, though this time, it’s encouraged by women. If I dance to “WAP” at Brick, I don’t think many people will be considering my thoughts and feelings. Now, I would like to give some credit to you for encouraging women to accept their bodies. I think that’s healthy, but this can and should be done without the overt degradation that comes with encouraging others to objectify us.
Lastly, I’d like to address the cage you put out for women. See, I am free to speak and think as much as I want, so long as it supports your ideas. The moment I disagree, I am painted a misogynist. It is easy to name call, but much harder to listen. So, you stopped listening a while back. You place women in an ideological cage, and the only way to escape is to fight against the grain of society. You tell women to trust you and not question things and expect that no one will, because deep down, you don’t believe that women can question you. Your fight doesn’t include equality, it’s about power and silencing the opposition. It encourages women who support you and silences the women who dare to think outside the cages you meticulously built. You punish all who question you with insults and ridicule. And for the women who don’t fight, for the women you lured into cages, you lock the doors, throw away the keys, and watch women sit in cages they don’t even notice.
Weary of cages,
Jessica Robinson