Picture a feminist. She is probably sporting a pantsuit in some safe, boring neutral color like burgundy or beige. The pants are generously sized so they will not cling to her body and in any way create the illusion of a female figure. The reason she is not wearing a skirt is obviously because she does not want to be too flamboyant about her unshaved, Chewbacca-looking legs that symbolize her rejection of patriarchal standards of beauty. Where her family life is concerned, she is either an old maid who could never catch a husband, is married to a man who lives in constant fear of her tyrannical rule, or, the most likely, is a lesbian, because after all, feminists despise all men. Most feminists, of course, are nothing like this stereotype. However, this harsh view is what many people believe is true about all people who support equality for both genders. That is what feminists are, after all. They are not people who want women to crush all the men in their path to become supreme ruler, they are person who believe that something as insignificant as biology should never stand in someone’s way of doing what they want in life. They are also not the uptight, men-hating radicals that the media makes them out to be. Three prominent feminists, Sandra Kim, Anne Marie Slaughter, and Sheryl Sandberg show how feminism is not what society makes it out to be. Creating these stereotypes only results in the prevention of any progress being made.

The public opinion of feminism is so negative that many supporters of women’s rights shy away from assuming the title of “feminist.” Despite fully supporting the cause of ending sexism, they do not want the public stigma that comes along with it. Sandra Kim, the editor of Everyday Feminism magazine, is determined to end this issue, and wrote the article “How Most Things You Know About Feminists Are Vicious Conservative Lies,” in an effort to bring awareness to the feminist stereotype. She opens by quoting several well-known conservative leaders saying anti-feminist statements to show just how prevalent in our society the patriarchy is rooted. She chose especially ridiculous quotes, such as: “Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians” (from television evangelist Pat Robertson) to portray the opposition as being unreasonable and stupid. Her overall point, however, is that most of the myths that surround feminists have no echoes of truth, and are all just as silly as accusing them of witchcraft. She tackles several pervasive ideas that the public holds, such as feminists being hateful and unable to take a joke. As she explains, the point of feminism is to stand “against the sexism and oppression that our society conditions us to perpetuate,” not to elevate women and oppress men. By confronting several myths about the movement for equality, Sandra Kim proves that the way society views feminists is slanted.

It is not just the feminists themselves who are misunderstood by the public; their platform calling for equality if often mistaken as hatred towards men, and Anne Marie Slaughter is one of few who are brave enough to prove this to be false. In her controversial speech, “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All,” she makes feminists proud by addressing not only the problems that plague working mothers, but also working fathers. She acknowledges that discussing stay-at-home dads is not common by opening the topic by saying: “Here I step onto treacherous ground, mined with stereotypes.” However, she wants it to be known that men have the support of feminists, and she is willing to risk the public’s opinion of her. A commonly debated topic concerning women’s rights is how society and the media grooms women to believe they are responsible for all housewife related duties. Slaughter digs even deeper into the analysis of society’s influence to show how it also affects men. She explains that “There’s really no choice,” in the roles our culture provides men and women. While women might be expected to be the caregiver, Slaughter describes how men are usually expected the be the breadwinner of the family, and to have a successful career. In the same way that women who choose their career over their family are looked upon with disgust by society, men who choose their family over having a career receive the same judgement. While most people’s image of feminism helping only women, Anne Marie Slaughter and countless other feminists are just as concerned with the problems that plague men.

In addition to supporting men in addition to women, real feminists differ from the popular image of themselves by asking for simple changes in the world. Rather than asking for a complete toppling of our current social structure and the destruction of men, feminism simply asks for women to be provided with the same opportunities as men. COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, [[is one who asks for simple, impactful things. revise]] In her bestselling book, Lean in: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, she deals with issues regarding women (or the absence of women) in business and management. Rather than placing blame upon the businessmen of the world for not hiring women, she focuses on encouraging women to succeed. Her famous saying, “Lean in” has been used to inspire women to take the gender imbalance into their own hands and concentrate on doing everything they can to further their career. By emphasizing that women can take action in determining their fate, she avoids the common

Feminism is often seen as a radical activity led by crazed women who reject all common standards of beauty and call for the establishment of the matriarchy. Society assumes that they look and act a certain way, and this influences how they are viewed. Most leading feminists are almost the complete opposite. They have leaders like Sandra Kim, who is determined to abolish stereotypes; Anne Marie Slaughter, who wants both women and men to follow whatever path in life they find the most fulfilling, even if it goes against traditional gender roles; and Sheryl Sandberg, who encourages women to take initiative in the business world rather than blaming the men at the top for not including women. Despite having these wonderful women leading the way to equality, feminism as a whole is still looked down upon. Until that view becomes different, women’s positions in the world will not change.

Works Cited
Kim, Sandra. “How Most Things You Know About Feminists Are Vicious Conservative
Lies.” Everyday Feminism 24 July, 2012. Web.
<http://everydayfeminism.com/2012/07/feminist-myths/ >
Sandberg, Sheryl. “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders.” TED Conference,
December 2010. TED Talk.
Slaughter, Anne Marie. “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All.” The Atlantic 13 June, 2012.
Web.