"Girls matter."

"Empowerment."

"Change."

"Strong."

"I matter."

I sat at one of the long tables in one of my university's classroom and saw these words scrawled across the whiteboard in black and green. The prompt that bound all of these words to each other was simple; "What does feminism mean to you?" When I looked at all of those positive words and phrases, when I looked at the bold, smiling faces of every girl in that room, it seemed impossible that feminism could ever be seen as a bad thing, unfathomable that anyone in our world wouldn't want to bear that title.

Unfortunately, the stigma placed upon feminism is frighteningly real. You don't have to explore the Internet long to find such offensive terms as "feminazi" and other insults. What's more upsetting, though, is the tendency of those who strongly believe in the tenets of feminism to reject the label. This idea that feminism is not for everyone, even those who believe in gender equality, further stunts the progress of the movement.

This type of limitation hurts everyone. Yes, everyone, and not just women. I would venture to say that every single person who reads this article would benefit from feminism. Feminism does not just seek to uplift women. It aims to demolish the social constructs and gender norms that constrict our behavior. The idea that anything "feminine" is bad and the effects that this concept has on the behaviors of all genders plagues everyone's lives in ways that you probably don't realize.

It's 2016, and it's time that we recognize that feminist is not a bad word. It isn't something to be afraid or ashamed of. It isn't a crazy or ridiculous movement. It's simply the "radical" idea that women should be treated like people too. The movement has a much farther reach than that, but I won't bore you with a sociological vocabulary lesson. You just need to answer these few questions.

Do you think that men and women should get paid the same wage for the same amount and type of work? Do you think that it isn't wrong for men to cry or show emotion? Do you think that men can care for children and that women can be working moms? Do you think that it's perfectly fine if women have short hair? Do you believe in equality for all women, not just straight, white, wealthy women? Do you think that it's ok if a little boy's favorite color is pink?

Congratulations. You might just be a feminist.