We grow our opinions from the experiences we have and the people we meet. This being said, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. A woman recently told me, she wasn't a feminist and did not believe in the feminist movement. Why, Because as a woman, she felt that she had never been discriminated against.

While that is her opinion, yet the feminist movement represents so much more than blatant discrimination against women. To be a feminist is to stand up for equality of all kinds, including gender, race, and equal pay for all. Feminists stand up for the right to have paid family leave for all genders. Feminists stand up for right is right. The men and women, together, who call themselves feminists stand up against Congress to push for equality in our laws. Such laws may and mostly include abortion laws, birth control laws, gender fluidity and many more. The feminist movement is a fight for individualism.

Yes women are discriminated against every day and yes, that is a huge part of the feminist movement. But, there is more. The book Crime and the American Dream (5th ed) written by Steven F. Messner and Richard Rosenfeld reads, "An important reason for this gender differential, we suggest, is that females are much more engaged than are males in a key social institution: the family… The commitment to materialism and individualistic competition-- values associated with the market economy-- should be weaker among females than among males."(pg 91-92) Reading this book, I couldn't help but consider the way my own family works. My sister and I were raised to be strong independent women that are now very career and power driven. Another stigma is that women have children as well as stay home to take care of them. A woman shouldn't have to bear children just because society says her body is made to. I don't want children. I want a life of travel and adventure. Children need a stable home and education, travel does not provide that. I also do not need a man in my life should one not be available to me. I am capable of being the breadwinner in my house. I am capable of cooking, cleaning and providing for myself one day.

Society is changing the times are changing and we need to change with it. A person's gender should not define who they are, what they do in life, how much they make in life, or how far they go in life.

I support individualism. That includes change and the right to choose what you do to your body. This applies to both men and women. I also support the empowerment the feminist movement provides to people of all types. It is more than discrimination. It is fighting for equality and doing what is right. I support the feminist movement.