Feminism is just about equality, really, and there's so much

When Mia Wasikowska spoke, “Feminism is just about equality, really, and there's so much stuff attached to the word, when it's actually so simple. I don't know why it's always so bogged down,” she revealed a truth that has been clouded by centuries of misunderstanding, fear, and distortion. Her words cut away the noise that surrounds feminism, stripping it to its heart: not hatred, not division, but equality. This is the essence that has always lived within the movement, though the world has too often covered it with false meanings and deliberate misrepresentations.

The meaning of this quote is as direct as it is profound. Wasikowska laments that something so clear—the pursuit of equality between men and women—has been weighed down with baggage. Critics have painted feminism as radical, hostile, or exclusive, when in truth its spirit is nothing more than fairness. Her words remind us that complexity is often imposed by those who fear change, while the principle itself remains simple. To seek equality is not to wage war against men, nor to elevate one gender above another—it is to affirm the humanity of all.

The origin of her thought arises from the modern struggle to reclaim the word feminism from distortion. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, waves of the movement achieved tremendous victories: the right to vote, to work, to be educated, to live free from violence and control. Yet as progress grew, so too did resistance. The word became “bogged down” by myths: that feminists hated men, that they sought supremacy rather than fairness, that the movement served only a few while ignoring the many. Wasikowska, speaking as a young artist of her generation, seeks to strip away these lies and remind us that the heart of the matter is breathtakingly simple.

History gives us the story of Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragettes of Britain. To them, the fight was simple: women must have the right to vote, for without it they were invisible citizens. Yet their cause was smeared, their word “suffragette” twisted to mean lawless and dangerous. They were arrested, mocked, and beaten, not because their principle was complex, but because their demand for equality shook the foundations of power. What Wasikowska observes today is the echo of that same struggle—the attempt to bury simplicity beneath ridicule. But the truth endures: equality is the heart, and no noise can erase it.

The wisdom of her words is this: when an idea is just and pure, it will often be made to seem complicated, for those who resist it cannot fight its truth directly. They will surround it with shadows, with accusations, with endless arguments, until people forget the simple light at its core. Feminism is one such idea. And so the duty of each generation is to brush away the dust, to reclaim the word, and to remind all that it means only this: that men and women, of all colors and classes, stand as equals in dignity and opportunity.

The lesson is clear: do not be fooled by noise. When you hear words distorted by fear, return to their essence. Ask: what is the heart of this? What is the truth beneath the labels? If you seek it honestly, you will find simplicity where others see confusion. In the case of feminism, the heart is equality, and the task is justice. The rest is distraction.

What then must the listener do? Speak the word feminism without fear or apology. Explain its meaning to those who have been deceived, not with anger but with clarity. Support women in their struggles, and men who stand with them, by remembering always that the goal is not supremacy but balance. Live this truth in your work, in your family, in your speech, until the word is cleansed of shadows.

Remember always: feminism is just about equality. Do not let the world bog it down with lies. Carry its simple truth like a torch, and pass it on to those who come after you. For when the noise fades, the light will remain, shining with the clarity of justice and the simplicity of truth.