Men, take a minute to imagine this: You come home from work one day to find your wife or girlfriend sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for you. She has a stern look on her face. You open your mouth to tell her you were fired today and the company hired women in your place. Before you can even say a word, she hands you a list of what is now expected of you.

You must remain unemployed, stay home to cook and clean, always be shaved and look your absolute best, never wear your favorite clothes, have no open opinions on anything, and give into her every want and need. Imagine she tells you that you now have to lose weight and work out at the gym every day. She tells you that you are to do as she says at all times with no complaining.

You wouldn’t be too pleased, would you?

Welcome to the world females live in. No, maybe it’s not a written list handed to us, but it is a verbal list spoken time and time again to us.

"Feminist" is defined by the Webster Dictionary as the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.

By this definition, I am a feminist. I believe women deserve the same rights and chances as men do. I believe a woman is just as capable as a man is, sometimes even more so. I support the rights of women. I support that women shouldn’t be sexual objects to men. I support self-confidence and self-expression in women, rather than conforming to a man’s idea of a perfect women.

When speaking with a friend, Breahna, who is a proud feminist, she agreed with my beliefs. Her definition was simple. “Feminism, to me, is helping women globally, especially, having social and political equality.” Her definition is a match for mine.

In the US alone, feminism should be taken more seriously. If you ask someone who has never been to the US, they would probably say women are equal here. I disagree.

In the workplace, women have a large pay gap. It can be thousands of dollars in difference, simply because she is a woman. She can have the same skillset and degrees as the man, but make less. But then again, she faced the struggle of even getting the job. Employers tend to discriminate, even though they cannot bluntly say it. This is an area I, as a woman, am angered by. This is an area I believe needs change faster than any other thing.

But in today’s society, feminism has become skewed. Feminists are jokes to the world. Why? Because the feminist message is skewed. What once was, “If you want to shave your legs, go for it. If not, that’s cool too,” became “Shaving your legs is caving into men’s ideals. Never shave again!” It’s moved from “Chivalry is romantic” to “Just because I’m a woman, doesn’t mean you have to do and pay for everything for me.” It’s no longer equality, but rather personal gain.

Do you see the issue? Feminism became less of "Do what makes you happy." and "Feel beautiful" and more of, "Don’t do anything that would even be mistaken as caving into what a man wants." This is not the feminism I support.

Let me make my views clear. I believe the pay gap in genders is outrageous. I think the discrimination because of my anatomy is outrageous. I believe a woman can do anything a man can do. I think the system is flawed and women are underappreciated in many ways. But I also am a large supporter of body positive messages and loving yourself. I believe if shaving your legs and wearing makeup everyday makes you feel beautiful, go for it. If you would rather not do any of that, that’s you. If you like wearing dresses or more girly clothes, you go girl. If you don’t like wearing those, that’s great too. You should do what makes you happy. That’s what feminism is.

I would like to point out one thing that may shock skewed feminists: Men can be feminists. I’m serious. By the definition given above, men can support the feminist movement. They can agree that we deserve equality. While old-fashioned men would never agree, our generation is evolving. Men are changing from feeling entitled to feeling equal. While I’m sure a man loves when his significant other does things that please him, like dress in a favorite outfit or put extra effort into her appearance on date night, men also don’t expect this. It is more of an act of love and appreciation. True men will not feel entitled to this treatment.

In relationships, men are well aware that their significant other may want to hold a job. He shouldn’t expect her to stay home and play housewife forever. While many moms leave their jobs when children are born, men also do this. Stay-at-home dads are just as popular as stay-at-home moms. It is about equality, not entitlement.

So is true feminism a bandwagon that women suddenly jumped onto and skewed? No. It has always existed. It is a serious matter, not a popular trend. Worldwide, women are using social media to call out injustice and discrimination. Feminism isn’t limited to the United States. Women in all parts of the world are constantly being told who they should and shouldn’t be, what they can and cannot do, and how they should or should not act.

There is no “perfect feminist." They simply don’t exist. We all have opinions on what feminism consists of. But at the end of day, we can all agree that women deserve to be equal, fought for, recognized and respected. Women deserve to be as free as men and have no limitations. Women deserve the same amount of respect as a man does.

So am I feminist, yes. But I am also a supporter of being positive and loving yourself as who you are. So no, I don’t believe in skewed feminism at all.