I am a feminist. Yes, I said it. I am proud to declare that I am wholeheartedly and confidently a feminist.

Did I lose any readers yet? Allow me to clarify.

I am not a free-bleeding, picketing, man-hating machine chanting for the destruction of men and the right to have hairy legs. I am an aspiring businesswoman advocating the political, social and economic equality of both genders. I believe in the legitimacy of equal pay for equal work, consistent opportunities for equally qualified individuals regardless of gender, and unbiased respect.

The concept of “feminism” has become one of those forbidden topics, because association with feminism means association with the extremist minority of the movement that seems to believe the only way to bolster women is to tear down men in the process. While I do appreciate their passion, this radical exaggeration of the idea of feminists has led people to believe that all feminists are man-haters and that a man could never be a feminist.

While spending the weekend with my older brother, whose opinion and knowledge I have always valued, I asked him if he believed himself to be a feminist. The immediate response was, as expected, a resounding “no.” I then asked him if he believed that men and women should be paid equally, to which he responded, “Absolutely, if they are doing the same work then they should get paid the same.” It was a challenging task to then convince him that this meant that he was, in fact, a feminist.

Hopefully this is surprising some of you reading this as well, because it honestly seems too simple to be true, but here is the unadulterated truth. Do you believe that all people should be viewed and treated equally despite gender, sexual orientation, skin color, ethnicity, religion, culture, or lifestyle?

Well then, my friend, you are also a FEMINIST. Welcome to the team!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Feminism