Last week I saw an article that talked about a girl not being a feminist and how that was okay. She then stated, not even two sentences into the article, that she still supported the equal treatment of women. Alright, let me just stop right there. Clearly, she doesn’t understand what feminism actually is then. And I get that. Nowadays, people groan when I say I’m a feminist. They automatically jump to the conclusion that I hate men and I don’t shave my legs.

Well, I think it’s time that people actually understood what feminism really is.

Feminism is advocacy for women’s rights based on the equality of the sexes.

That’s it, that’s all it is. Simple, right?

It does get a little deeper than that, however. People think that if you’re a feminist that you’re completely against being a stay-at-home mom, having a man open the door for you, or shaving your legs. Well, that’s wrong.

Being a feminist means that you’re not going to shame a woman for what she chooses to do with her life. If she wants to go to college and work until she’s the CEO of a huge company, then by all means, go ahead and do it. Personally, I want to make a career for myself but I also cannot wait until the day where I can be at stay-at-home mom.

And that’s okay.

If I want to fall back into “traditional roles”, I can and I shouldn’t be shamed for what I want to do with my life. This is the same for everything else. If a woman does or doesn’t want to shave her legs, then who cares? It’s not affecting you. As long as it is the woman’s choice to do these things, then it is okay.

Feminism is about women being allowed to do what they please without being judged or having assumptions made against them. It’s about allowing women the freedom to let her husband be in charge of the household or for her to do it herself.

If a so-called “feminist” tells you that you’re wrong for allowing a man to pay for your dinner or for being the breadwinner of the household, then they aren’t a real feminist and they’re the reason people are so afraid of feminism.

Now this isn’t saying that men aren’t oppressed as well and they shouldn’t have the right to choose to be a stay-at-home dad or anything else because then I would be completely wrong. But right now, the focus is on getting people to understand that feminism is not a bad thing.

Feminism isn’t something to be afraid of. I am a very proud feminist and I will always fight for women to be treated equally in society.