I walked into a women and gender studies course this past semester thinking mainly about one word; feminism. It was my expectation that the very foundation of the course would revolve around this one idea. Clearly, I didn't understand the scope and role that women had taken on because I quickly realized that the word feminism and the idea behind it could not stand for everything that women really valued. Feminism is generally defined as advocacy for women's rights and not necessarily only by women; many feminist movements have included both men and women alike. It seems like the progression from 1865 (bear with me I am a history major) to where we have come to now has become less progress and more of a way to fill empty space with words. International Women's Day was officially made a holiday to celebrate the accomplishments of all women. Why? One day out of the entire day, women are given this "glorious" day in order to show that we have made it so far as to... pass the 19th Amendment, become CEO's etc. But what about the women that are fighting to save their families lives? Or the woman that has literally no place to go and it is not because she is lazy or cannot sustain her own life, but rather because she has not been given the opportunity . Those are the same women who persevere through the worst and are given no credit for their accomplishments. Do we celebrate them? The simple answer is no. It is not enough to say how tough women are and how much we on a personal level have become the inner female "badass" that we all imagine.

So the next time you think about feminism, think about more than the foundation. Think about the structure of it all. Think about how women really got to where they are today. We are enamored with the idea of adversity, and yet it seems like we forget about it entirely. When it comes to the idea of a real woman, we base that image on almost meaningless characteristics that do not build a woman to be strong and tough. So, build the real woman in the way that really accentuates the hardships as well as the successes of them. In that way, we do not need a definition to outline who we should be as women because that should be innate. It is the word feminism that essentially hinders the progress because we strive to have this equality among the gender. Sure, it is important to find an equilibrium but we should not wrap ourselves up in this "struggle" because, although it does exist and it is a constant problem in most countries around the world, we as individuals should move and push through those boundaries on our own, not because many define their lives around the idea of equality. Live your life how you feel it should be and do not have an expectation of being treated a certain way if you have not earned it. Feminism is only a term that can be taken so far, but actions and perserverance is really what will take you where you as a human, not as a male or a female, will take you to where you want to be.