I was always told growing up, that men and women were equal, and that women could do anything a man could do. As much as I despise the labels that we paste on our foreheads, our identities, I would say that I am a feminist; not a feminazi, not an SJW, not a bigot.

I am a female who believes in the equality of women AND men, as well as equal opportunities.

But there's this “new” feminism that isn’t the one that I knew and loved, the one that my parents believed in, the one that discriminates and hates.

This is not my feminism. It is a cancerous hybrid that has shape-shifted itself to trick people.

However, I believe that feminism itself hasn’t changed as much as the people who worship it like a religion. They clutch to the belief that it will change everything, and that obsession catches fire and becomes unable to be controlled. Betty Friedan rose her voice and incited the second wave of feminism, giving the average, suburban housewife a voice and a choice. She said that women shouldn’t be confined to a life of dishes, laundry, and birthing children; that the option of having a career like every breadwinning man was feasible. She quoted, “I want something more than my husband and my children and my home.”

She changed the world for women. Now, we are moving backwards. Instead of uniting men and women, of all beliefs and ideals, the followers of “feminism” are discriminating women and men who don’t follow their beliefs.

I am not saying that Friedan’s feminism didn’t discriminate or exclude against women of color and lesbians, but it is 2017. We are taking two steps forward, with increased gay rights and black lives matter, but moving four steps back by criticizing those who disagree.

I read this article by a fellow Odyssey creator (amazing article by the way) called “I Don’t Want My Husband to Help Me With Housework,” illustrating that she believes that her responsibility is to take care of the family and her husband. Now, I am not agreeing with that entirely, but why are people up in arms, saying she is adhering to gender roles for women, when these are her beliefs?

Friedan wanted women to have the choice, not the expectation, to follow their career path and truly live the life they want. If a woman wants to be a housewife, why should “feminists” think less of her as a millennial woman?

Not only do modern day femenazis judge women for adhering to old-fashioned beliefs, but also, the blatant man hating that is associated with these “feminists” is down right hypocritical. Women have fought for hundreds of years to have equal voice, pay, opportunities, respect, and these extremists are discrediting all women and all men who continue to mend to tear us apart. The typical SJW terms like rape culture, patriarchy, and let me not forget mansplaining, give people the right to laugh in our fucking faces and discredit feminism as a unifying force.

Do I believe that there is inequality? Yes.

Do I believe in the principle of an-eye-for-an-eye, trying to make men second-class citizens? No.

Do I believe that 1 out of 5 men I see on campus will rape me? No.

Do I believe that taking up two bus seats so a dude’s nuts can air out is him showing his inferiority to me? Fuck no.

I am a proud feminist.

I love men and women equally, regardless of the past and my experiences with either. I may not want to be a housewife, I may not want to be a mother, I may not want to be a Christian, and I may not want to be a straight woman, but I do not judge or hate or crucify anyone who does, and that’s my problem with today’s feminism. You “feminists” sit at your marches and post on your Tumbler, thinking you are changing the world for women, but you are only making it worse.

I know you good feminists are out there, hopefully reading this article. As for the others, the cancerous posers that pretend to embody the feminist’s values, you are the problem with society. I will not judge your beliefs, but I will never stand beside you and fight for feminism.