I am a feminist. For the longest time, this was a phrase I was afraid to speak-- I was afraid to be called a "feminazi" or told that I hate men. Feminism is a greatly misunderstood ideal and movement.

All the women who helped make me into the woman I am today are some of the strongest women I ever met. I was a feminist before I even knew what feminism was. These wonderful women told me to never let any person tell me what to wear, how to act or who to be. Little did I know how much I would need to remind myself of this advice as I grew older. I did not yet know the reality of the sexist world that we live in.

My first experience with sexism was in the first grade. All the young girls were told they couldn't go play with the boys because they play "too rough". They didn't allow us to play together. They didn't even consider that maybe the girls did want to go play soccer or that boys wanted to play with the dolls they made us play with. At six years old, my opportunities were already being limited.

I was 11 when I received my first rape threat. I was afraid to go home and tell my mother. I was afraid to go back to school. My mother did find out – mothers find out everything. This young man was suspended for a week and then allowed back to school. I spent the next five years swallowing my discomfort of seeing him every day. His education became more valuable than my safety.

By the time I got to high school my male classmates found it funny to tell me to "get back in the kitchen" and "make a sandwich." How can we expect young women to value their educations if they are told on a daily basis that they only have value if they are cooking and cleaning for men?

I cannot count the amount of death, rape and violent threats I received since I starting speaking out about feminism. I cannot count how many times I have been told "nice ass" or "great tits." I know I am not the only one. There is no reason why anyone should live in fear for being a feminist, but this is not the reality.

There is no valid reason that of the Fortune 500 companies only four percent of the CEO's are women or that caucasian women make 79 percent of what every man makes and women of color only make 64 percent of what men make. These sexist systems are set in place to ensure the dominance of caucasian, cisgender men.

I fear the future; I fear nothing will change. But that fear spurs me to activism. It moves me to fight along with my fellow feminists, activists, and humans who hope for a world where our most important identity is 'human'. My hope is far stronger than my fear; I am far stronger than those who try to bring me down.

I hope to see a world where I will make 100 percent of what a man makes, where I will not be blamed for my sexual assault, where a man will not tell me what to do with my body, where it will be commonplace to ask someone their preferred gender pronouns and where I can be anything I dream to be. Hope springs eternal.

I have many identities that make me the strong woman that I am today: I am a daughter, a sister, a survivor of sexual assault, a dedicated student, a world traveler, a feminist and a human. Never again will I fear telling the world that I am a feminist. Never again will I let fear stop me from being exactly who I am.