The lack of knowledge the world still has about feminism and it’s true purpose reinforces how much we truly need feminism. I never considered myself a feminist, until I took a Women Gender Studies class in college. This class truly opened my eyes to many occurring problems. It showed me how far women have come, but how far we still have to go. As a whole, it taught me the true meaning of feminism, which is something everyone, both men and women should be apart of! Here are five reasons why we all need feminism:

1. Equal Pay & Equal Opportunity

If a woman and man are doing the same job, they should be getting the same exact pay. Am I right or am I right? With that, women should get an equal opportunity for jobs. Why does a man who has the same qualifications as a woman, always get picked over the woman? Women work just as hard or in some cases, even harder than men do.

2. Women Still Get Blamed For Being Raped

In our society, the first thing someone says when a girl has been raped are things like:

“Well, what was she wearing?”

“How drunk was she?”

“Was she on drugs?”

No, this is disgusting. The victim is traumatized enough from getting raped, so why make things worse for the victim, by making it seem like it’s their fault? It is NEVER the victim’s fault.

3. Like Rape, Women Get Blamed For Being Abused

The first question people ask when they hear about a woman in an abusive relationship is “Why did she stay?” This is 110% wrong. You are once again victim blaming. Like I stated before, it is NEVER the victim’s fault.

4. Women Constantly Being Objectified/Degraded

From the media to everyday life, women are constantly being degraded. Guys will whistle at women to catch our attention. However, this isn’t flattering at all; it’s actually very disrespectful. We aren’t dogs, we are human beings. Then, there’s your average commercials, music videos, etc that only display women as sexual beings. Personally, I don’t want to be looked at like this. Instead, I demand respect and believe every woman should too.

5. Because Not Only Do Women Need It, But Men Do Too

BREAKING NEWS. Feminism isn’t only for women!! Surprising, right?

Even though many people assume feminism is only for women, this isn’t the case at all. In our society, we have gender roles who affect women and men. For women, it’s that we are emotional, submissive, and weak. For men, it’s the complete opposite. Men are assumed to be physically strong, aggressive, and the provider of the house. These ideals of what a man and woman are supposed to be are clearly very unrealistic. A woman can be physically strong and the provider of the house. Just like a man can be emotional. Everyone has both feminine and masculine traits about them, which should be accepted. However, society teaches us that we should either be one or the other. In my opinion, people should defy gender roles simply by being whoever they want to be.