*Contributing writer: Kelsey Ruane, James Madison University
Feminism to me is empowerment to recognize and change the harmful aspects of our society. Like many others, I never thought I would be a feminist because of the negative stereotypes surrounding it and because I thought that there was no work left to be done.
As a sociology major, I have learned that that is far from the truth and there is still so much more that has to be done to improve the world for the people we care about. I want a world where women aren’t held to impossible beauty standards, or constantly in fear of sexual assault. I want a world where men can express themselves emotionally and don’t feel the need to live up to harmful standards of masculinity.
Sometimes I feel like I’d rather not know some of the horrible things that continue to happen in this society. It would be a lot easier to pretend that we’re all equal and that the problems in our society are minimal. However after learning everything that I have, there is no possible way I could do that.
Feminism empowers me to face these challenges head on and create change for myself and the people I care about.