Feminism is defined as the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

Over the past year, Shailene Woodley has received criticism for a comment she made in an interview with Time magazine claiming not to be a feminist. Woodley defended this comment by emphasizing that she “loves men, and the idea of 'raise women to power and take men away from power' is never going to work because you need balance." Feminism, however, is not defined as taking away the rights of men; it is first and foremost about working towards the rights of women. Rather than focusing on the decline of “men's power," it promotes equality amongst men and women.

In a later interview, Woodley corrected her statement, contending instead that the word feminist discriminates. She explained that "feminist" is a label, and any sort of label segregates. “It draws a line between people," she said.

Her words got me thinking. While I do not agree with Woodley's definition of feminism as taking men away from power, I do agree that the term draws a line between people. Not between men and women, but rather, between women as a whole.

While feminism as a theory serves as a platform for unity amongst women, the term itself is detrimental. By having to label a woman who supports and advocates for her own gender, the term infers that there are women who do not. This implicates segregation amongst women; those that define themselves as feminists and those that do not. It creates a label that should by no means still be in existence.

This label should no longer be in existence because it would be difficult to find any woman in a first-world society that disagrees with these fundamental values of moving towards a gender-equitable culture. By having to define women who want to see the advancement of their own gender in a modern society, the term 'feminist' implies that not all women advocate for their own inherent rights. It says that there needs to be a term to describe those that do. In the year 2015, we should all be advocating for these kinds of rights and advancement, men and women alike.

I do not consider myself a feminist, not because I “love men," but because, as a woman, it should not be a matter of question that I value women's advancement and the closing of the gender gap in our 21^st century society. I am not content with the term "feminist" implying that there are 21^st century women that do not agree with these basic ideals. The label of a feminist needs to be shed along with the views of an gender-divided 20^th century society because we, as women, have made major strides over the last century towards gender equality, achieving large gains in both education and the workforce. As these strides have grown increasingly significant, "Feminist" has become synonymous with "Woman." There is no need to differentiate amongst us as a whole.

With that being said, I am not sure whom the “people" are that Shailene Woodley was referring to when she stated that the label of "feminist" draws a line between them. She may have very well have been referring to a feminism drawing a division amongst men and women, as previous statements of hers would imply. Let's hope this is not the case.

My view on this terminology is far from universal. Feminism, as both a theory and the terminology in itself, is open to everyone's own individual interpretation. However, it is absolutely essential that we, as women, consider the consequences of the ways that we label ourselves. As long as the gender gap persists in our modern society, women will share a common bond regardless of our individual interpretations.

This gender gap is not up for debate; it will persist until the day a female investment banker can walk into a conference room full of men and not have to work just a little bit harder to prove herself, or until the day a woman can run for the presidency without facing scrutiny that she is too weak to hold such an important office. Taking this into account, the one question that still remains is: Does the “F" Word promote unity amongst women, or is it creating the Great Divide?