I am a feminist. There, I said it.
Go ahead, start to think of what comes to your mind. Some people might think empowerment, opportunity, and equality. But, more than likely, people are going to think man-hating, patriarchy killing, crazy woman.
When I was a senior in high school, we had discussions in my English class about feminism one day and one girl said something to me that I will never forget. At the end of our discussion, she looked at me and said, "You know, I hate feminist. They are crazy people who think that women are superior to men." I looked back and told her I was a feminist just for her to say, "Well, you're not like other feminists. I like you, you're not extreme."
I was almost in disbelief. I had started a club for women empowerment at my high school, went to a Hillary Clinton rally, and here was a girl telling me that I'm not extreme and that she actually liked feminists like me. I was glad that she didn't think I was extreme, or man-hating. However, I was hurt that a movement so positive and democratic had such a negative connotation to young people already. Here was a girl, that clearly did not know much about feminism, brainwashed by a society that only had advertised a negative side of feminism.
The truth is, feminism is not a positive word. This kind of situation is more than normal. Women can never win. We can't be too bossy, too smart, or too fat; and apparently, we can't even be a feminist or else that's bad too.
With a new president just now elected, I am more than frightened for the future of women in our country. In these past few months, I have felt more objectified than ever. America has changed. It is sickening that our new leader accepts sexism, our National Football League doesn't punish sexual assault, and our courts are taking away reproductive rights of women. In the years leading up to this election, I was starting to see a positive correlation with the women's movement, feminism, and success. However, I think I speak for many young women in our country when I say that I am worried that the next four years will be stagnant.
I am scared to be a feminist with a Trump Presidency. I am worried that women's rights and equal opportunity will be pushed aside. Trump's new cabinet has already been chosen, and most of the board of leaders consists of white men. If only half of the people in a democratic country are given a voice, we are truly shortchanging voices that need to be heard.
If the leader of the free world tolerates sexism and objectifies women, what does it say about the world to ever take women, or feminism seriously?
I am a feminist, and that's not changing during a Trump Presidency. But at the time, I am more than scared.
