The word feminist became all the rage again when Beyoncé, at the 2014 VMA's, opened her performance with the definition of feminist. If you don't know what I'm talking about, basically Bey stood in front of the word feminist printed largely, and I mean large, as a woman said the definition of a feminist. Here it is:
"Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes"
It seems pretty simple, right? Pretty normal and reasonable that someone would believe in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. Yet there is still a stigma attached to the word feminist. Even I am uncomfortable to admit I am a feminist sometimes, but I am. I mean everyone should be. Why wouldn't you want man or woman or whatever to succeed in life and have the same opportunities? It is baffling to me there are people out there that believe that a feminist is still a girl that doesn't shave her arm pits, hates men and overall is an angry person. But I'm telling you, silly people, that there are feminist out there, both male and female, that are actually pretty “normal" people; they just have a different opinion than you do.
I find that in the college community, young women are not treating themselves as they should. I don't mean to go PSA on all you sorority girls, but let's not forget about the women that fought for the rights we have now. I don't know about you ladies, but I would like to live in a country where women receive the same amount of salary and respect as the opposite gender. I would also love to see young women accomplishing and succeeding just as much as men are.
Don't sell yourself short, ladies, we have a lot more to accomplish in America still, even globally. There is still a wage-gap between men and women, there is also a disproportionate amount of men in esteemed professional fields, increased violence against women and even a lack of justice and reproductive rights.
Girls, our fight is not over. As cheesy as it sounds, we need to respect ourselves and other women or we will never have the same opportunities as men. Don't step back from the challenges of being a woman in society, embrace them. Embrace wanting the same rights as men, and stop being afraid to call yourself a feminist.
Like Lauren Conrad responded in an interview, when asked her favorite position, she quickly responded "CEO."
