During my first week of classes, most of my professors chose to start off this semester with run of the mill introductions, followed by some sort of icebreaker. This was no different in my class on race and identity.
We all wrote down “I am” statements on index cards. My professor then read these statements aloud, and students stood up if a statement applied to them.
One of the cards read, “I am a feminist.”
I jumped to my feet eager to display my beliefs and a little envious that I hadn’t thought to write down the statement myself. Nevertheless, I was hopeful and almost certain that I’d see my classmates standing by my side.
When I looked around the room, I was disappointed. Out of my class of about 20, only 5 students stood up, including myself. None of them were boys.
What confused me most was that there were some female students who remained seated. I don’t understand how a woman could not consider herself a feminist, especially in 2015.
I know that many women and girls have been afraid to label themselves as feminists in the past for fear of being viewed as radical. They didn’t want to be mistaken for the bra-burning, anti-shaving feminists of the 1960s. They didn’t want to dismiss certain aspects of femininity or scare men away, so they shied away from the term altogether.
But in today’s society, I thought the true meaning of feminism was widely understood as the belief in political, economic and social equality for men and women.
Last September, Emma Watson defined feminism during her famous U.N. speech on gender equality.
“Feminism is, by definition, the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities,” Watson said. “It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”
A simple Google search will result in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary definition, which also defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.”
The definition is straightforward, yet so many men and women hesitate to use the term.
I think the problem is that many people still consider “feminism” to be a dirty word. And they believe that the conversations surrounding feminist issues, like equal pay, rape culture and prescribed gender roles are touchy subjects. But we can’t let words scare us, and we can’t ignore conversations because they make us uncomfortable.
I’d like to believe that modern day feminism is working to end the fear that many people have of declaring themselves feminists. I hope the anxiety that surrounds conversations about sexism and gender issues diminishes, as well.
Watson has made it easier for many to join in on the conversation about gender equality. The campaign that she launched with HeForShe has specifically welcomed many men into this conversation.
There are also many other contemporary feminists in popular culture who seem to be continually drawing attention to their stances on sexism and gender issues.
Some famous women include Amy Poehler, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Malala Yousafzai and Michelle Obama. Famous men, such as Harry Styles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aziz Ansari, Chris Colfer and Ryan Gosling are also standing behind feminist ideals.
In his 2015 State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama touched upon several feminist issues, as well. He also made history by becoming the first president to use the words “lesbian,” “bisexual” and “transgender” in a State of the Union Address.
Modern feminism is about acknowledging where we stand as a society and establishing how we want to move forward in the future.
Unfortunately, we are at a place where feminism continues to be regarded as a dirty word and gender inequality needs to become a thing of the past.Â