These days people label everything, if post pictures of your food on social media you are a "foodie." If wear cute outfits you are a "fashionista." If like someone's picture from 56 weeks ago you are a "stalker." Almost everything has a label, but one label that many people are afraid of using is one to describe the equality of men and women politically, socially and economically: feminist. It seems strange that people would be repulsed by a label that means someone believes in equality. However, more often than not when asked if someone identifies as a feminist they say no. When asked why they do not identify as a feminist, the reasons typically support the ideals adopted by feminists. Because, by saying one does not "consider" themselves a feminist they are saying they don't consider themselves a believer in equal rights. The inequality among the sexes plagues three major areas in society, politics, the media and education. These areas all heavily influence everyone's lives and the future generations mentality. 

The first claim made by non identifiers is, that they are not ''like'' them. They are not like them because they are not, "hairy, man hating, sex hating, and angry dykes (Gay).  None of those qualities define or disqualify someone from being a feminist.  A feminist can have as much or as little hair as he/she pleases, he/she can have sex after breakfast lunch and dinner or be celibate. Even crazier than all that, feminist can actually be men, and really should be for that matter. Feminists don't believe in superiority or special treatment, they want equality for both sexes, including paternity leave and the destruction of gender norms. Roxanne Gay wrote a book about this very misconception. Gay is a woman of color and through her life she has faced many prejudices that have been held against her, including: being black, a woman, and a feminist. In Roxanne Gay's book "Bad Feminist" she talks about how she is a bad feminist because she is none of the things listed above; she regrettably listens to rap songs that degrade women and lets men do manual labor. She talks about how someone can do all those things and still be feminist. Even though someone is not the perfect activist who says and does all the right things they can still be an active advocate towards equality. Someone can want to take their husbands name and stay at home to take care of their kids, or become a CEO and keep their maiden name, or even a combination of the two. The point is it is what they want to do, not someone telling them what is acceptable to do. 

Gay also talks about the universal "look" that all feminists are perceived to have. By using that same logic if all feminists look alike and Beyonce is a feminist, and I am a feminist, I look like Beyonce. The last line of "Bad Feminist" is, "I would rather be a bad feminist than not be one at all." This means, every small act of feminism leads everyone closer to social justice. It all starts with people believing that even though they are just one person, they are one person with the power to change the world through littlest acts. By simply changing the channel when the show they are watching is degrading to women or men, by not supporting a sports team that employs athletes who treat their significate others as punching bags, by noticing that there is power in everything they do and say. No one has to look a certain way to fight for justice. 

The most cringe worthy argument to why people aren't feminist is because they claim "don't need it." They propose that feminist came in did their job, women can vote, drive a car and now women are being greedy. To support that claim examples of women in power such as, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina are being used. However, Fironia like many other women in power, is using her story of success to bring to light all the ways we still need feminism. In a speech given in May of 2015 she explains why both democrats and republicans need feminism. She talks about how, "her male colleagues would hold meetings in strip clubs" (Berenson), and how reporters comment on her nail polish not the polished speeches she's given. She is bringing to light that just because she penetrated the glass ceiling doesn't mean its not still there. Asking for equal pay for equal work should is not "asking for too much." Being a woman should not be seen as a disadvantage, it does not make you any less worthy a candidate. Hilary Clintons pant suits have no barring on whether or not she can lead out country. Her policies and stance on social program and immigration should be given a closer look than whether or not her heels are this season.  Many times people do not see these problems, because they have become completely desensitized to the difference in they way that women and men are perceived. 

Men and women should not be satisfied with how society is today, both genders are no where near where they could be. There is denying that women have come so far from Seneca Falls, New York 1848, but that doesn't mean Susan B. Anthony would be satisfied with where it has been left. Everyone, women and men, need feminism because, both genders deserve jobs, acceptance to school, the power of their own body, political representation and so much more with out regard to what gender they are. There is no greed in asking for justice.

Feminism is not a localized problem; the segregation of the sexes is everywhere. In many counties women are still fighting for the right of education. Over 60 million girls worldwide are never enrolled in primary education. These girls grow up with no tools to be independent or knowledgeable. Malala Yousafazai has literally dedicated her life to this cause. When Malala was a young school girl, she was on a bus that was attacked by the Taliban. The Taliban stopped then boarded the bus, and opened fire on these young girls for the sole purpose that they were going to school. Malala was shot in the face; she was transported to England where she could receive proper medical care without the danger of the rebels coming back to finish what they started. This did not scare Malala or make her even thinking of backing down (Yousafazai 2014). In 2014, Malala received the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy in women's rights and universal education. She has used the momentum her story received by world wide media, to bring to light the injustice of the schooling system in countries where it is not an unalienable right. The world needs more women like Malala to stop at nothing to get all humans to have basic rights. The world needs more men like her father who believes that his daughters deserve the same rights that his son does. No one should be excluded from education, in order for global progression there needs to be global intelligence.

Why is it so acceptable for people to accept that women are secondary to men? The media is heavily to blame for this. People today are entrenched with what they see in the media. What the entertainment business portrays is what people accept as real and acceptable. The number of speaking rolls in blockbuster movies was examined by the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. The study showed that "less than 30% of speaking rolls in movies are women (Gray)." That subconsciously teaches people that less than half the time women have something important to say. It also talks about the way women are portrayed as hyper-sexualized in these blockbusters. "Female charters between the ages of 13 and 20 were the most likely to be sexualized(Gray)." This is saturating young girls' minds with images of women wearing little to no clothes. And, the only way that these girls can get boys is by pleasing the boys and adapting themselves to their pleasures. This is teaching young girls that looks matter over intelligence and the degradation of women is the norm. In a recent interview for a movie based upon a book the interviewer asked "when" the male actor read the book, and "if" the female actress read it. When the actress made light of the fact that they did that they asked her if "she was tired or cranky."  They proceeded to wait till she was off the air to continue to mock her for her attitude and even made a meme about it (Good Day LA). The difference in question is not only on TV interviews, on the red carpet men are often times asked about the work they have done and things they advocate for; while women are asked "who are they wearing." Amy Pholer an actress and director has started a campaign to combat this. "Ask her more" is her campaign, it is aimed at asking women more intelligent questions to show that their worth is more than the designer that they wear. The biggest problem with the media is it is everywhere, it is the place that people get their news and entertainment. When the media perceives women as objects the population begins to too. There is no escaping the presence of media there is only changing what everyone demands of it. They change in the demand of the consumers will change the product that they producers make.

The media hyper-sexualizing women leads to a monumental problem. Women are being portrayed as sex objects, when boys see this they feel entitled to these "objects." But, who can blame them, boys will boys right? Wrong. She was asking for it because did you see what she was wearing? Wrong. The bottom line is that there is no instance in when someone has the right to another person's body. However, the line between right are wrong have been blurred. What is consensual and not is not as black and white as it should be. It is very easy to fall in the notion that it was a mistake. That these boys did not mean it, and in many cases they may not have. They may not have even known that it was such a big problem. And, that is the problem that boys are not taught exactly what is right and wrong. No one wants to talk about the tough topics such as rape and sexual assault so they avoid it. So, when it comes down to what happened the perpetration cannot be blamed and the victim cannot get justice. A major contribution to this problem is slut shaming. By shifting the blame to the victim, for somehow "asking for it" or provoking it. "By relating a woman's value to her sexual purity, we are indirectly showing a specific group of women that not only do we not support them, we don't protect them, and we don't believe that they have the same inherent value that their purity-oriented counterparts do (Peterson)." This is not only slut-shaming but victim blaming. In no other instance is this an acceptable approach, if you are shot the first question asked is not what where you wearing. By scrutinizing these victims, it not only harms them but also future victims. Perpetrators are excused from these crimes because they are not being blamed for what they do. This is also harmful because the victims have stopped reporting the crimes due to fear of scrutiny and loss hope of an actual conviction of their rapist. Sexual assault affects 1 in every 5 women on college campuses (Hunting Ground). Though, there are efforts in place to alleviate this problem too many of them are aimed at women changing their behavior, not rapist changing their mentality. The perpetrators of these crimes aren't all crazy criminals, but too often then not friends, crushes, boys in your class, "the nice guy." These people have grown up believing that the act can be justified by signs that they have been given. The idea that the victim is the problem is never the case and we can't treat the situation that way. A star athletes' status does not put him above the law. The perpetrators reputation is not the concern but justice for the victim is. The solution starts with addressing the problem. In school we need to teach boys and girls what is acceptable and not. There needs to be a universal consensus of what is consensual. And, if either party does something that is not consented it is assault.

Not identifying as a feminist does not mean you don't understand the social injustice that the women and med face in different aspects of society; it means that you do not understand what you are saying you're not. Aziz Ansari put it quiet simply, "if you believe that men and women have equal rights, and then someone asks you if you're a feminist, you have to say yes. Because that's how words work." Feminism is something people shy away from because they are scared of the stereotypes that are connected to them. In doing this they are just continuing the cycle of misrepresentation. Originally, I thought the same way. I vividly remember telling my step-dad all the reasons why I wasn't a feminist. I said that I believed that women should get jobs because of their capability not a mandate, I believed that men and women are equal, I wasn't angry about the hardships women faced because it made us strong. He looked at me and said he agreed with everything that I said except for the face that I wasn't a feminist. I was so mad; I knew that I wasn't a feminist I knew what I believed in. Later that night I looked it up to see what he was talking about, and I found out I was nothing short of one. In that moment I realized how every claim I made was in favor of feminism. And, almost every claim made against feminism is actually supporting their cause. Through all my research I found one thing to be evident, the label is not what matters. It's the fact that people recognize the problems that our society faces today. That whether or not you want to call it feminism we still need the momentum that the cause has to advance for equality among the sexes. 

Emma Watson, the women goodwill ambassador, gave a speech in front of the UN in 2014. In her speech she gave a number of responses why everyone but especially boys should be feminist. Men are not free from gender discrimination. For committing the same crime men will on average get a longer sentence than women, and in custody cases the mother almost always win. That it starts with men, it starts with them stop acting dominate so women will have to stop being submissive. But at the end of the day it starts with you, and me. Every small act we make to justice, every time we stand up for what is right. There doesn't have to be a label for it if the label is not one you are comfortable with. Because, that's what feminism is about doing what you choose and having the right to do it. Maisie Williams a teen activist said, " We should stop calling feminist feminists and just start calling people who aren't feminist sexist -- and then everyone else is just a human. You are either a normal person or a sexist." She said this at a Naral conference when talking about why she was a woman's right activist and on the show Game of Thrones. 

My research was focused on why people wont identify as a feminist and is something I find very dear to my heart. I will continue to advocate for equal rights among sexes and I hope I can change the world with that or at least one persons. But, what I found is as passionate I am about being a feminist the message is more powerful not the label you put on it. So, if you are not a feminist but you advocate for equal rights, that's going to have to do. The best thing you can do is continue to change the channel when women are being degraded, or Chris Brown is on the radio or you see something that is not right.

