If recently you’ve been on social media, driven down a busy street, read a paper, or even held a conversation with someone, chances are you heard about feminism. Although it’s been around for several decades, Feminism has become a popular and controversial topic more recently. But with that, comes lots of options and beliefs; some true...some not so much. I want to take a moment to talk about some of the common misconceptions about feminism. So let’s clear some things up and debunk a few myths shall we?

1. Myth:

Feminism is about hating men.

Truth:

As for every major movement there are exceptions, but as a whole feminism is not about hating or degrading men. It isn’t about putting men down to raise females up, that’s not the goal. It’s simple equality between both genders. Men are not greater than women and women are not greater than men. Yes, physically men generally have an advantage, this is how they were biologically made. But I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about how both females and men equally have so much to offer and to contribute to society.

2. Myth: Feminism is going against traditional values.

Truth:

Not even 50 years ago the American woman was pictured at home, taking care of the house and children. Always clean. Always smiling. Welcoming a husband home to dinner as he walked through the white picket fence. Now is that a bad thing? Of course not! But if a woman doesn’t have a desire to have kids or is career driven or wants to spend lots of time traveling that’s perfectly fine too. You can support equal rights for women whether you’re at home feeding a child or in the workplace living independently. You see, feminism isn’t saying one of these are correct over the other: it’s giving the option for both. You can be feminine while being a feminist.

3. Myth: It’s 2016, there is no need for feminism anymore.

Truth:

Even today, there is still oppression on women especially in the workplace. For example; out of CEOs woman make up only 3.6 percent. And even though the ‘Equal Pay for Equal Work’ act was passed in 1963, woman make 77.5 cents for every dollar a man would earn (2003). See, the issue isn’t that woman aren’t getting hired, but how they are treated and payed once they are. Nowadays, woman make up for 46% of the labor force (almost half) but 59% are making under $8 an hour. That means that women are doing the jobs that pay minimum wage. Wage aside, if a man and woman are applying for the same job, both have the same education and experience level, the man in most cases, will get the job. Why is that? Well I was talking to my doctor about the subject awhile a go. I’m in college right now doing the pre-med program and we were talking about med school. My doctor (male) was saying that med-schools and workplaces are hesitant to accept or hire females because males don't have to chance of having to take maternity leave. The workplace doesn’t want to have to pay a mother while she is out after having a child, so to avoid the problem altogether, they favor hiring men. So in the end, feminism is fighting against this. It’s so women and men are treated equally and fairly in the working environment.

4. Myth: Feminism is only for the middle class American woman.

Truth:

Feminism is for ALL women. If anything, women in other countries need quality the most. Yes, in America women don’t always get treated equally. But there are laws in place that are there to try and fix the problem. Whereas in some other countries, women don’t have the right to vote. They can’t speak their mind without fear. They are often seen as property and have little value without a man. Feminism is for men and women around the world to combat these unjust problems and it’s happening more and more world wide.

In conclusion, feminism is simply about equality. It’s opening doors for women where there was none before and not only raising awareness to the operation that is still there but finding ways to fix it. If you have any question, comments or concerns regarding this topic I would love to hear from you by commenting below.