To people who do not fully understand the topic, feminism is falsely thought to be a movement of hatred towards men. Women’s equality is a major issue in this country, and all over the world. We are not trying to debase men, we are simply fighting for equality. In 1848, the women’s rights movement began in America. Without having any representation in government, and no decision maker that would understand women’s needs, they took the matters into their own hands and led protests, which eventually gave women the right to vote.  Of course, this isn’t the first time in history we see women being neglected. In Shakespearean times women were not allowed to act in plays, and in colonial times women were just supposed to sit at home and cook.

In the 21st century, thankfully we now see less and less women getting disrespected; but this doesn’t stop us from being shamed. Actress Emma Watson recently started a campaign called HeForShe, which is men helping to take a stand for the rights of women. Many men do not believe gender equality to be a plausible cause, and it is extremely infuriating. Her campaign became big through advertising it  social media where she asked the people of twitter to get the men in their life to take a pledge. All a man had to do was sign their name online and promise to help take a stand for the ladies in their life. I asked many of my male friends to do this, and only a few complied with what I was asking. A few made fun, and some had no idea what was going on. This made me angry because I know that all of them have women and girls in their lives. Did they not care that the women they loved are getting discriminated against…just because of their gender?

Another HUGE part of feminism is anti-slut-shaming. Rape is a serious issue everywhere in the world and the girls are getting blamed for it. “Oh she was asking for it…did you see what she was wearing?” Nobody asks to be raped. Victims around the world are being told that they are at fault for the terrible crimes committed against them. According to rainn.org (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) 17.7 million American women have been the victims of attempted or completed rape. Many are embarrassed and afraid to face the truth; but with the right support and education, females across the globe will feel safe and confident enough to report their assault.

Last year when there were posters all around my school about rape and sexual abuse awareness, the people completely disregarded the true meaning; some even made fun of them. This is what sparked my anger towards women’s rights, because I realized that nobody really cared about this issue. The thought of “gender roles” should be exterminated from everyone’s mind. A female and male are only so different from each other, we are both capable of accomplishing great things; so if we are both physically able to do the same thing then why are we treated differently? Women are depicted as delicate flowers that shouldn’t have to work as hard as men, but most women want to. We don’t work hard at school for our whole life just to be told we have to stay home with the kids and not live out our dreams.