Dropping an F Bomb

Every now and then, you need to just drop an F Bomb. What I mean to say is: I'm a feminist.

It's not easy to place the reasons why I'm a feminist. It seems easier to say that I am one because I know no other way to be. I believe that women deserve equal rights to men, including the right to their bodies, their pay, their jobs, and all sorts of things. These seem like very basic concepts to me, and I can't imagine any other way of viewing the world.

While I believe that being a feminist is a very basic worldview, I feel like I need to "come out" as a feminist because so many people see feminism as something exceptional. It's a belief for radicals, complainers, and man haters. It's not womankind's attempt to be equal with men, it's an attempt to rob men of their liberties and seek revenge for misogyny and sexism. These views constitute my peers' opinions; I say this not out of speculation, but because all this past week I have heard my classmates express their opinions on feminism by making such remarks. 

I cannot believe that feminism is just a catty, vengeful girl's club. It disheartens me that people my age think this. While it may have been radical and sometimes even anti-male in the past, this certainly is not the state of feminism today. Instead, it's about equality, equal opportunity, and ending the sexism that real women everywhere continue to face. It's about recognizing the women hold up half of the sky. It's about realizing that females make up 50% of the world's population and own 1% of its property and fighting to change that. 

In my mind, feminism is for everyone, male, female, and in between. It's not just a woman's movement, it's a movement for equality. And I just can't bring myself to understand why anyone would want to live in a world that's not equal.