Time after time, we hear the words, "I am a feminist." And it's true, I am a feminist. But after a while, I've learned that it's not even worth wasting my breath to try to explain why I am a feminist because most people don't even know what "feminism" means. No, I don't hate men, and no, I don't care if sports channels are geared more toward women. No, I won't get in a heated debate with you, and no, I probably won't care if you're not a feminist. Everyone is entitled to their own (informed) opinions. I'm writing this to feminism's public enemy #1: Ignorance.

Now, the word, "feminist," is just effective as rewarding yourself after a long work out with a slice of cake. Gender equality has become stagnant. Kudos to the women before me who have paved the way and allowed it to be socially acceptable for me to be a horrible cook, but that's only a stepping stone. Yeah, we have a lot of bad ass women in society absolutely killing it: the CEO's of Pepsi, General Motors, Yahoo, IBM, etc. But how many men do you see as secretaries or elementary school teachers?

Before I get into this, just know, most people don't understand the purpose of feminism in the first place. (Trust me, it makes me want to blow my brains out every time someone says they are not a feminist because they don't understand what feminism even is.) "Feminism" is not about putting another gender "down," it's not about fighting for "dominance" and it's sure as hell not about who grabs the check at the end of a date (that's your own damn business). So please, don't get sucked into the ignorance. And to make sure that we all have a common ground to move on from, I have here a beautifully, factual graph that demonstrates approximately 90% of how people perpetuate bullsh*t:

Now that we've all grasped that underlying assumption, the reality is that a majority of society believes that feminism is about making women EQUAL TO men. I mean, if you just Google the word, "feminism," this is what comes up:

"the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men."

Yeah...no, Google. And it is that very misunderstanding associated with the word "feminism" that makes women (and men) across the country afraid to identify with it. These misinterpretations perpetuate the idea that "feminism" is a cult of women who are butt-hurt over men and prance around with their shirts off. Well, hate to break it to ya but, it's not.

You're supposed to feel like it's getting "shoved down your throat." How do you think any other big movement gained any following and respect? The very fact that people condemn women for speaking up is the entire point of these radical movements: females have been devalued over the course of history, and socialized into roles that promote silence and passivity. What happens when women are silenced for centuries? *Ding ding ding* Backlash and overexposed nipples.

Radicalization promotes discourse, and discourse promotes change. Movements such as "Free The Nipple" and growing out armpit hair are extreme, by design, in order to grab your attention and create new discursive identities. You're supposed to hate it. So congratulations, you're responding, and that's exactly what they want. Give yourself a pat on the back. You can hate it all you want but, it worked, didn't it? Let's all stop promoting ignorance, hating on everyone and everything, and focus on making a change, shall we?

Now, for the part you should pay attention to:

The problem: "Feminism" has been adopted as a solution for "gender inequality." Feminism doesn't work anymore because gender inequality is based on a one-way flow.Generally, gender inequality has become stagnant because women are moving into gender non-traditional roles (i.e., CEO's, politicians), but men are NOT moving into gender non-traditional roles (i.e., homemakers, nurses).

The solution: Each constituent of society needs to rethink and reevaluate what gender equality means, and respect all occupations and social roles in order to achieve it.*

There is no more room for growth toward gender equality if people continue to hide behind this word, "feminism," and ignore the real problem at hand. Feminism has opened the gate for the discussion of gender equality, but will not continue work unless we, as a society, understand that the word, "feminism," has been wrongly shamed and misinterpreted. Women should not be EQUAL TO men; rather, men and women should be equal throughout society.

We automatically assume that the man who is a first grade teacher couldn't do better because traditionally feminine roles in society have been devalued. And hey, I'm no better than anyone else; I'm guilty of doing it too. It's uncomfortable to think of the man in a relationship being a "housewife," while the woman is out there making six figures, and that's because I have learned that it is culturally inappropriate for that to be the case. But, if we don't change the way we think of men and women as social beings, humans at their core, then no amount of feminism, humanism or any other type of "-ism" is going to get us any closer to gender equality.

So yeah, I am a feminist. But if you think I'm going to grow out my armpit hair, dye it pink and run around like those inflatable dancing tube things you see outside car dealerships, then you haven't understood anything I've said in this article.

*Note: Occupational sex-segregation is just one yardstick used to measure gender inequality, and in no way accounts for all varying gender orientations or social dynamics, nationally or internationally.

[References: Paula England's "The Gender Revolution," and literally any other scholarly research (that doesn't include Tumblr).]