If you're an avid supporter of women's rights, you probably know about the three waves of feminism in the United States. Woman's rights activists worked hard to achieve equality, through allowing women to vote, minimising the pay gap, enabling women to take family planning into their own hands with abortion rights and widely accessible birth control, as well as working on intersectional feminism with black, POC and LGBTQ+ identifying women being able to fight for their rights too. Through the work of these feminists who pioneered the women's rights movements, we were able to fight gross inequality and acheive equal rights for areas such as voting rights, and the right to healthcare and education.
However, we can't just stop now. We may have solved the bigger issues, but what about the everyday sexism? On paper, it might seem that women have equal rights in terms of legal representation and human rights, but this isn't true in practice. Everyday sexism includes the portrayals of stereotypes in the media, the microaggressions that women face in the workplace, the fact that women living in less developed areas have to live under the fear of being beaten, and harassed. We can't just be content with being able to vote, not when girls are still being told that they can't, that they shouldn't do certain things because of their gender, not when women can't feel safe in their own neighbourhood.
Some may protest that leaps and bounds have been made in terms of women's rights, and that we have already established equal rights. Until every woman feels safe in her own home, until every woman can take full ownership over her land, money, and even her own body, we can't stop fighting. It's stupid, that pads and tampons are seen as a luxury item, and are subject to government taxes and VAT. It's ridiculous, that young girls are being told that they're too "bossy" and "emotional", and that they wouldn't be fit to be leaders. It is absurd, that one in three women would be subject to being sexually harassed in her lifetime, that things like being molested on public transport have become so normalised, something that seems inevitable. Until we are able to solve these problems, the voices of feminists will still be very much present in our media, as we speak out for equality. This is the fourth wave of feminism.
In this technology era, the army of feminists is becoming stronger and more promenient everyday. Whether it's on social media, in their local communities, or even out marching on the streets, we're amplifying the voices that have been silenced for decades. In the past, women's rights activists could only fight for their rights through protests, organising gatherings, and handing out leaflets and zines for their cause. But now, feminism can be as straight forward as sharing a post on Instagram. Quoting the well known champion for women's rights, Laura Bates, modern day feminism "is really down-to-earth, really open, and it's very much about people saying: 'Here is something that doesn't make sense to me, I thought women were equal, I'm going to do something about it.'"
Now, everybody can be a feminist.
I live in Singapore, and recently, a student at the prestigious institution National University of Singapore was caught taking explicit photos and videos of girls in the dormitory showers. Rather than just staying silent and waiting for the storm to pass, Monica Baey, one of the victims, spoke up about it, rasing awareness on social media, until it gained enough traction, and widespread attention that the student at fault was expelled and prosecuted accordingly. From the recent #MeToo movement where women spoke up about their experiences with sexual harassment, or petitions to remove age-old sexist institutions such as the Page Three in the famous British publication The Sun, women's rights activists have been using the internet to champion for their rights. This is why, even though I can't attend marches or protests for women's rights, I still feel like a part of the fourth wave of feminism, by speaking out about the issues dear to me. Together, we're forging a path for a brighter future.
