"Feminist" has become the second dirty F-word. I often see it thrown around as an insult online in the context of, "I've found the angry feminist" or something similar. But what’s so bad about wanting equality of the genders? How is that something to be ashamed of? What is so bad about being angry about inequality?

If you google feminism that's what you get.

"The advocacy of women's rights to be equal to men."

A person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.

That's it.

And if you don't think we need feminism, you're selfish.

That's the only way to put it.

Feminists aren't a group of angry women who come together and hate men. That idea couldn't be further from the truth and if that's what you believe, you need to do us all a favor and educate yourself.

Feminists are simply people who believe that men and women should have equal rights. They aren't people who believe women should receive special privileges or that women are better than men. They are simply supporting the rights of women because most firsts for women in history are still recent.

In 1917, we had the first woman ever to enlist in the U.S. Navy as anything other than a nurse. In 1921, Edith Wharton was the first woman to ever win a Pulitzer prize. In 1932, Hattie Caraway was the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate. In 1978, Mary E. Clarke was the first woman to achieve the rank of major general in the U.S. Army. In 1994, Judith Rodin was the first permanent female president of an Ivy League University. Finally, just last year Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major U.S. political party.

Those are all huge milestones, yet, every day around the world women are treated like objects. Full-time workers are making 80 cents to the man's dollar. Every day, women are assaulted and raped. Women are forced to cover up and be silent. In some countries, women are having their genitals mutilated, being forced into marriages, and are being denied access to education. There are women here in the U.S. being forced into sex trafficking at this very moment.

If we don't fight for these girls, no one will.

We need feminism.

from it, you are discrediting the very movement that gave me and other women the right to vote. The right to receive an education and be treated like a human being. The movement that is fighting for reform on issues such as equal pay, maternity leave, sexual harassment, sexual violence, and for the rights of women all around the world, among other things.

Maybe you personally don’t have to worry about these issues, but that does not mean that they do not exist and that they are not a reality for other people. It’s like saying that world hunger isn’t a thing because you aren’t hungry. It’s great that you’re not hungry, but many other people are.

I am a feminist, and that is okay. It’s more than okay, it’s wonderful.