The other day I was browsing through a Seventeen magazine and stumbled upon the article “So… Are You A Feminist?” That simple question made me rather confused. As a woman at an extremely empowering and socially aware college, and as a woman who grew up with a mother who strongly advocated feminism, I didn’t realize until recently that some girls do not identify as feminists. This idea—that some women might not advocate for equal rights between both sexes—amazed me. I looked into it further, and I realized something about our current society’s views on feminism. We tend to see feminists as bra burning extremists, man haters, and angry at the world. But is that really the meaning of feminism?
There are some women who describe themselves as feminists who might not shave their armpits or legs, who may be against men, and who perhaps refuse to wear bras. These are strong women. These are independent, powerful women. They are true to themselves and true to their beliefs, which is incredible.
As incredible as these feminists are, they are not the only type of feminists. There are also feminists who wear high heels and skirts, who don makeup every single day, and who are as boy crazy as could be. A feminist can be anyone: a man, a woman, or anyone in between. There need only be one defining trait of a person to give them the title feminist, and that trait is their belief in the power of women.
It has become clear in our present society that women are treated unequally. For the past several years, the pay gap has remained at an astoundingly high difference. For every 77 cents a woman earns, her male counterpart earns a whole dollar. This, in turn, means that a woman earns $77,000 for a male’s $100,000 worth of work. That difference is so incredibly substantial that it’s hard to understand why every woman isn’t burning bras and rioting on the streets. It seems, sadly, that women are afraid of being ridiculed and stereotyped for fighting this gender inequality. In the hypercritical society of today, many women fear the label of extremist, or manly, or hateful. This reproduces the idea that feminists are solely angry radicals. This is not the case, and nor should women—or men—fear or disparage feminists because of the stereotype.
Gloria Steinem, one of the most powerful feminists of our time, and a Smith alumna at that, said, “A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” This is the essence of what feminism means. Feminists can be radicals, sure. However, we can also simply be advocates of equality. Feminism means equality, it means freedom to be who you are, and it means strength. I am proud to call myself a feminist, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.