Lately, "feminism" has evolved into some sort of dirty word. People will automatically assume the worst of you if you openly admit that you’re a feminist, and men are intimidated. I don’t know when feminism became bad, but I have to believe that this hatred of feminism stems from self-proclaimed feminists who have no idea what true feminism is. They are ruining feminism for the rest of us, and that’s sad because there are still so many issues that we need feminism to fight. We need to come together to remove the stigma surrounding feminism so that we can fight these issues, and the first step is clarifying what feminism is and is not.

Feminism is NOT about hating men or female superiority.

We should know as well as anybody that an entire group of people cannot be accurately judged based on the actions of a few. Not every man disrespects women, and not every man thinks women are unequal to men. Believe it or not, there are many good men in the world, and I refuse to believe that women are somehow better than they are.

Feminism IS about males and females being equal.

Now I’m not saying that feminism is about males and females being equal in every single way because I know that biologically, men are typically better at some parts of life than women are and that women are typically better at other parts. What I AM saying is that men and women should have equal opportunities. Women should be just as able as men to have the opportunities to do whatever they want in life.

Feminism is NOT about shaming other women who want to stay in more traditional roles.

Seriously, if we cannot come together as women, how in the world are we going to be able to fix the issues? Feminism is losing the support of many women who want to raise families because other women are telling them that their decision is hurting women who want to have careers.

Feminism IS about having a choice.

Women who decide to have a more traditional role of taking care of the family are not hurting feminism. In fact, they are actively exercising feminism. Feminism is about giving women a choice in life of what they want to do. If a woman wants to be a stay-at-home wife or mother, that should be okay and should be supported by feminism. If a woman wants to go out and build an amazing career, that should be okay, too, and she should be paid the same amount as a man with the same qualifications.Ultimately, feminism should be fighting to allow women to create whatever life they want for themselves.