Are Teens Too Obsessed with Feminism?

DISCLAIMER: Hey, Soo Hyun's "My Thoughts" are exactly what the title suggests. They are merely my thoughts, opinions, and what I've gathered, organized into writing. I do not write with the intention of aggravating or offending anybody; rants are merely written for my sake, and the majority are simply to sharing things I've noticed/learned. Though peaceful discussions are more than welcome, I do not wish to argue with anyone about the subjects presented. Comments or messages of aggressive nature will be ignored, and/or in extreme cases, may be deleted.

Before I begin- I censored some words due to the younger viewership of this blog, and to keep this blog from being blocked/filtered by Google or my blog host for the language.

These days, I find myself rolling my eyes more and more at the comments left by "feminist" teens everywhere.

Don't get me wrong- feminism is great. I believe that everybody with a decent heart, brain, and soul would support feminism- no matter their gender. Feminism is simply a movement that supports women's social rights and equality between men and women. That doesn't sound too bad, now does it? But as everything does, it also has its downsides- its biggest problem being that there are huge misconceptions about it (though that's a whole 'nother topic). But the sole purpose is simple and ethical- feminism stands for equality.

So now that we've gotten that out of the way, shall we address the elephant in the room?

Yep, I'm talking about teen "feminists". Why would I put that in quotations, if I am a teenager and a feminist myself? Well, I'm definitely not one of those blinded girls, who've been surfing Tumblr for too long, and is brainwashed into thinking feminism is more than it needs to be.

Here's where this whole idea started.

Last night, I was scrolling through my YouTube subscriptions feed. Suddenly, there it was, "S*xually Harassed...". I became a little worried, as anyone should upon reading such a title. Mind you, the creators of the video don't run some kind of explicit channel- they post vegan-lifestyle content; which just goes to show that something like this can happen to anybody.

Apparently, they were in Hawaii, walking their way back from the beach. Just heading back in swimsuits, no big deal, right? But of course, some idiot has to come along and make it more than it is. In the video, the girls played live footage of them running across the street to the nearby Starbucks, as one of them pulls out their phone and calls their mom. Apparently, a man in a van had been driving by when he stopped in front of them and... Oh, just watch the video.

The girls are then seen talking to their mom on the phone, telling her what happened. The mom asks them one question, just four words that sets off World War IV in the comment section of the video. "What were you wearing?"

The comments are flooded with anything between agreeing with the mom, to accusing her of "slut shaming". As I scrolled through the comments, I literally began laughing. It was ridiculous, how many 13, 14, 15 year olds were accusing this worried mom.

Someone even went so far as to say that they needed to call their mom out on her "victim blaming". Instead, the girls made another video the next day, explaining their mom's good intentions and (rightfully!) defending her mom's comments. They stated that though they understand that r*pe is not the victim's fault, it sometimes can be prevented easily by putting on some more clothes. Likely anticipating the stubborn and rude comments, they even went so far as to mention that they knew clothes sometimes did little to stop incidents like this- they opened up about a past incident where they were younger, fully dressed, and a similar thing had happened. Did this stop the flow of aggressive comments? Heck no. If I've learned anything about the YouTube community, it's that they're stubborn.

Though I wished to stay out of it, I couldn't help but leave this comment:

"I'm completely appalled by some of these uneducated, extremist comments. You guys should not have to explain your mom's clearly caring and worried comments. This is the problem with the YouTube community- people like to twist words, make assumptions, and take things to the extreme. That said, a lot of those comments are from younger teens who have clearly surfed the feminist blogs on tumblr a little too long and is taking the whole message the wrong way. Don't get me wrong- Yes, 100% yes, it is totally messed up that women have to watch what we wear, what we do (taking drinks from people, not walking alone, etc). Yes, we shouldn't have to worry about that. IT IS MESSED UP. But just because we are trying to change that with feminism and changing rape culture, DOES NOT mean that it's now perfectly safe for us to go out wearing what we want. I wish it was, but it isn't; at least not for now. In the future, it definitely will be. But as for right this second, as we are fighting for this right, we still have to take precautionary measures to stay safe. It's just the way it is, and I really just don't understand how people can be so closed-minded and stubborn that they do not understand that. I would rather be wearing a little more clothing and fighting for the right to wear less, rather than wearing less clothes right this second just to prove a point, and get r*ped or possibly killed."

The comments section on this new video is divided. Half of them are people who actually have some sense- people who agree that covering up is an at least somewhat effective way to at least deter some crazy people. The other half are young teens, claiming over and over again that clothes have nothing to do with r*pe, that boys should just learn consent, and that feminism should be pushed more. Some of this are true, but most of them are just missing the point- or choosing to ignore it.

It is proven by human nature and science- less clothes will draw more attention. Is this true 100% of the time? No. As the girls mentioned in the video, they'd experienced a similar situation when they had been modestly clothed. But it's quite obvious, and can be figured out by common sense, that less clothes usually suggest something a little more s*xual. I mean, hello, do you recall from health class that s*x is not had fully clothed? But are you "asking for it" by wearing your favorite crop top or shorts? Probably not, and boys don't have the right to abuse that. However, as of right now, it's just the fact of life. It just is not always safe for us to go out wearing less clothing, and I think we can all agree that wearing less clothing just to prove that you should be able to without getting r*ped or harassed is not a good idea. R*pe and harassment is something that can be somewhat prevented by taking a few precautionary measures. Are they going to work 100% of the time? No, but it may save you more times than you think. Whether this method works or not, it'll at least give well-wishing moms and dads everywhere a (small) sense of security. Just like how you shouldn't run with scissors, accept drinks from a stranger at parties, or take drugs, it's common sense not to dress provocatively just to evoke something, especially when it's still completely possible to dress a little more modestly and be fashion-forward.

I really do hope that this changes in the future. As the girls mention in the video, in a perfect world, we would be able to wear anything we want. But this isn't a perfect world, and there are some crazy people out there. So for now, I think most parents would agree- just cover a little more. It isn't going to kill you.

#mythoughts #writing