I’ve considered myself a feminist since my junior year of high school. At the time, I barely knew what that meant, only that I wanted women to have the same opportunities and rights as men. I knew what the wage gap was if only the most basic understanding; I knew that certain professions were looked down on for being “women’s work." I also knew that the girls in my elementary school for bullied by the boys for being too girly and too feminine. I knew that femininity was something women were expected to project, but too much meant that we were ditzy, annoying and uncool.

As I’ve gotten older, I've learned that feminism is flawed. The first two waves were racially exclusive, with notable suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony talking bad about black women. The current wave of feminism (third or fourth, depending on your opinion) is trying its best to be inclusive, but it still falls short. I often feel that I am left out of conversations on intersectional feminism. Where is a Mexican woman’s place in the revolution?

Feminism tends to cater to cisgender upper-class white women and that doesn’t leave a lot of room for women who don’t fit those standards. Even the second annual Women’s March catered to those women. There’s nothing wrong with including cisgender upper-class white women, but those shouldn’t be the only women lifted up.

And yet, with all that being said, I am still a feminist.

I am a feminist because I believe in the power of women. If conversations about feminism don’t include me, I will include myself. If they don’t include trans women, women of color or poor women, I will bring them into the conversation. As Midy Aponte said, “If you don’t have a seat at the table, bring your own chair.”

I know that change begins from within, and if I am unhappy with some parts of feminism, I can make the change to be better. I am the change I want to see in the world. I am constantly checking my feminism to make sure that I'm standing up for all women, not just women like me. As Audre Lorde said, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”

Where my feminism falls short, I will take a step back and educate myself. Where it's not my place to speak on other’s behalf, I will listen. Where it is my path to march, I will.