In college, I hated the word “Feminist.” I thought the mere sound of it indicated that if I fought for women, I hated men. Feminism has such a negative connotation behind it that I found myself starting sentences with, “I’m not a Feminist or anything but...” when talking about political and social issues dealing with women.

The word itself has so much back-lash that people forget the true definition of the word. Feminism is the belief that men and women should be afforded the same opportunities socially, politically and economically. That's it. To put it in simpler terms, you do not need to be female to be a Feminist. A Feminist is anyone, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, who believes that a male and female who have the same job title and work ethic, deserve the same compensation.

That’s not too much to ask, right?

Throughout my career so far, especially working in media, I have been faced with many things that made me question the system and pushed me forward into loudly and proudly defining myself as a Feminist. And unless you don’t believe that men and women should be equal, then you too are a Feminist.

Now some of you will argue that if women want to be treated equally then “men should be able to hit women.” If the only reason that you’re not going around hitting women is because you were told you’re not supposed to hit a girl, then you should seek some professional help. You shouldn’t be going around hitting anyone, unless you are protecting yourself or another from harm and you should probably reevaluate your morals if that is your argument against women being equal when every day there are women getting killed and raped for being women who are often victim blamed.

Think this is nonsense? Ask the many women who has been through a sexual harassment issue what kind of questions they were asked about the incident. Then ask the men. You’ll see the difference, as I did in my experience, and it will wake you up to the problems fairly quickly.

While I love writing and journalism, working in the media I saw too many headlines that would emphasize the accomplishments of a man and overshadow those of women. Just like with the Olympics right now, there have been multiple headlines that are concerning to say the least.

Being in my career for 6 years now, I have seen many times the unequal pay amongst men and women in the same role. Hearing many times that “women don’t negotiate” or they “don’t negotiate well enough.” Many women are offered less at the start, before negotiations, than men and even after negotiations don’t make as much as a man who is equally qualified and sometimes even less qualified. These are not just assumptions, these are facts and you can find many case studies done on this.

While I chose to follow a career path, there is nothing wrong with being a stay at home wife or mother or a working mother or not a mother at all. Too many women are judged on all of these things, but no one would ever question a man who often travels away from his family for work or decided not to settle down into his thirties.

I wish I could say that this is all speculation and that it is over exaggerated by women, but I see it every day. I’m lucky enough to work at a company who respects my role no matter what my gender is and I never feel less than any of my male co-workers. However, that has not always been the case and I have worked for companies whose belief systems were that of the 1950’s and it was a difficult environment to thrive in if you weren’t a white male.

Often at these places I would wonder if I was being too feminine by wearing a dress or makeup when men would check me out while I was giving a presentation instead of listening to what I was saying and respect my opinions. I felt that in order to be heard I would have to downplay my femininity. I know now that there is no reason that just because I’m wearing lipstick that the work I’ve done should be considered less than a man’s.

So if you’re like I used to be and cringe at the “F” word. Take a moment and think about what that means. If you’re a woman, be proud to be a woman and know that it is okay to want to be treated equally. If you’re a man, remember that this is your mother, sister, aunt, wife, etc. who are asking to earn the same respect as you. Would you tell your mother that she should make less than you because she is a woman? It’s not a radical notion to be a Feminist, it is simply human decency common sense.