Have you ever wondered why we teach people how not to get raped instead of teaching people not to rape? How colors can have genders? Why women are paid 77 cents for every dollar a man makes? Why women are blamed for getting raped? Why men are praised for their sex life and women are shamed for theirs? Why being called a girl or a woman is an insult? Why a mother feeding her baby in public is shunned upon? Why, in the dating field, men fear rejection while women fear for their life?

I have, and it angers me

There are so many problems in the world today, but there is one subject in particular that I’m going to bring up in this article. It is not simply one word, but more of a mixture of words – sexism, misogyny, patriarchy – the reason I consider myself a feminist.

Feminist. Nowadays, when most people hear that word, they cringe and think of hairy, ugly women spewing hatred toward men. But, if they took the time to educate themselves, they would know that misandry is the term for thinking of women as superior to men, while feminism is just equality of the sexes. How did feminism get such a negative connotation then if it just means equality? Well, there are always those few bad seeds that spoil the name of the whole bunch - misandrists who confuse feminism for misandry.

If you don’t think feminism is relevant anymore, you obviously haven’t been paying close enough attention. For as long as history remembers, most societies have been patriarchies strongly enforcing specific gender roles. However, over the centuries, many societies have evolved into more gender equal environments thanks to women’s suffrage and feminists. Although they have accomplished much for women around the world, there are still many issues today caused by much of society’s misogynistic (reflecting or exhibiting hatred, dislike, mistrust, or mistreatment of women) historic roots that need to be faced. We still need to fight for socioeconomic equality of men and women.

We need to fight against the culture of female submissiveness even if “it’s just the way it’s always been”. As Letty Cottin Pogrebin put it, “When men are oppressed it’s a tragedy. When women are oppressed it’s tradition.” Just because patriarchal values have aged over the years like fine wine doesn’t mean they’re right.

One major problem of the patriarchy (a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it) we live in is the sexualization of the female gender – and scary enough, at all ages. It is part of the concept that women exist simply for the pleasure of men. Women have to always be perfect; hairless, flawless skin, not too fat but not too skinny, shimmering hair cascading down from the top of her head,  makeup on 24/7 because women are things of beauty, right? Except that women are people, not things.

The same, sadly, goes for girls as well as women. Even though it seems harmless, dress codes are a fairly large contributor to this harmful societal notion. The solution of the sexualization of girls is making them cover up so they don’t distract the boys, instead of simply teaching boys to respect girls as people and not as sexual objects. Treating girls like this and instilling that kind of thinking into their minds has a huge negative impact on their self-esteem as well as their self-confidence. And as adults, if you are sexualizing teenage girls in any way such as this, you are part of this horrific problem.

Although this sub-issue ranges from dress code to rape culture, the root concept stays the same: the patriarchal society we live in oppresses the female gender.

We need to change the old, oppressive views of our elders and educate our youth to know better. Most people say they believe in equality, yet few actually show it. Many people are still subtly and/or unknowingly practicing misogyny, and it is reflecting on younger generations. Tony Porter’s words, “If it would destroy [a 12-year-old boy] to be called a girl, what are we then teaching him about girls?” shine light on the issue of society unconsciously enforcing misogyny in it’s patriarchy. My gender being an insult is not okay with me, and it shouldn’t be okay with you.

Although it may seem like a lot of the issues feminism tries to fix are just for women, feminism also fights for some male issues that the patriarchy forces onto them, such as masculinity. The idea that being manly requires apathy and laborious duties for those of the male gender, the idea that guys can’t like anything that girls like, the idea that obtaining sexual relations with multiple women is what makes them a man are all harmful to men and women.

To be short, feminism is a good thing. It is a concept of equality for men and women that we need to fight harder for.

Whether you know it or not, you need feminism, and feminism needs you.