Today, I’ll be talking about feminism, a simple yet complex topic. Simple in ideals, yet complex in the way it’s viewed as today. It started off as a movement to get women their vote and gender equality. So why has a movement about gender equality become so misunderstood, to the point that it’s viewed by some as man-hating?

My name’s Yael-Louise Dekel; I’m 13 years old, and today, I’ll be talking about feminism.

Before I get started on my talk, let’s look at the definition for feminism. One definition for feminism is: Women’s fight for their vote and gender equality.

But now that women have their vote, I feel that feminism has moved into the gender equality part. Gender equality; that’s what feminism is really all about, gender equality and going against gender stereotypes, such as gender roles.

Gender roles… this is a ‘biggie’… We all know them. Boys equals blue – that’s why the blue spotlight… And tractors and astronauts and dinosaurs. And Girls equals pink, as in this spotlight. Princesses and ballerinas and flowers.

But are they right?… Of course not. Gender roles reflect how society views females and males, and they also tell us the difference between what is considered female and what is considered male. But they can also force people into a category of things they may not like. If you do not like the things in your gender role, it doesn’t mean your gender’s wrong. It means the gender role is wrong.

By striving for gender equality, we should focus on the issue of stereotypes, such as gender roles, which I’ve talked about briefly. Colours don’t have genders. Unless we’re speaking French, pink and blue are technically not gender-assigned colours. And even in French, I think pink’s a male colour… Many girls I know don’t even like the colour pink. While some may just not like the colour, I feel like some of us don’t like the colour because it’s what’s expected of us, and if we wear pink we’re just going along with gender roles. I mean, this isn’t for everyone; this is just a personal opinion.

Some girls just don’t like the colour pink and that’s fine. Some girls are also tomboys, which is fine. But what about the boys? I often feel that girls who dress up like boys are treated better than boys who dress up like girls.

If girls can wear male clothing without hate, then why can’t boys wear female clothing and be treated the same? Sometimes, I feel that being feminine and gentle can often be mistaken as being weak. An example I can think of is when Emma Watson, a renowned feminist, rejected the role of

Cinderella for the live action movie because she supposedly believed, like so many others, that Cinderella was a weak character.

But why? Cinderella was simply an abused girl who defied her abusers

by going to the ball against their wishes. She didn’t even go to the ball for a prince. She just wanted a dress and a night out, which is very relatable…

She may not be strong physically but she is strong mentally, and just because she can’t fight well doesn’t mean she’s not a strong character.

I feel that everyone’s talking about strong and independent female characters, but no one really talks about strong and independent male characters because it’s a sort of a given.

Sexism is so deeply ingrained into our society that it wasn’t until I started looking closely that I started to notice things more and more ever so slightly sexist around me. An example is the “man up” phrase suggesting to us females that to be strong to overcome things, we have to be like men. Another thing is the “like a girl” insult, such as ‘you run like a girl’, ‘you fight like a girl’. People are saying ‘like a girl’ as if it’s an insult, even girls themselves use it.

Another thing is people putting down their anger to periods and hormones. Once, me and my friend were in class and we were angry at this boy – I can’t remember why. And then he said, “I know why you two are angry…” He leans forward and gives us a knowing smile “Are you two on your period?” he asked. I’m just going to leave that there.

So, I’ve talked about the females, hopefully, discussed some issues we wouldn’t normally think about. But about the males? What about their issues? As my friend says, the patriarchy hurts both genders. A good example for this is that when females are being sensitive, it’s treated like a compliment. Like, “Oh, yes, she’s a very sensitive special girl”.

But when boys show their softer emotions like they cry, they’re viewed as being weak. Another thing is the ‘boys will be boys’ statement, which I’m sure you’ve all heard, which I really don’t like. First off, people say ‘boys will be boys’, let’s say when boys fight. And in turn, they’re saying that boys only fight. Moreover, if boys are fighting and they say ‘boys will be boys’, they’re giving them an excuse for behaving like that.

Another male issue is male problems in the media being pushed aside and often overlooked by female problems. Did you know that in 2016, around three-quarters of all the suicides done in the UK were done by males? Three-quarters of all the suicides. This is a shocking figure. There’s very little awareness of it.

People think sexism is mostly aimed at girls but boys can suffer from it too. And that’s why I think everyone, boys included, should be feminists.

Feminism is about gender equality and if you are not a feminist, then do you not want equality for your gender?

Males can be feminists, females can be feminists. It’s just up to each and every one of you to make a change…

Thank you.

“Feminism: not just for females.” – TEDx Talk by Yael-Louise Dekel. Delivered November 2018, at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, UK.