To all of the girls that try to deprecate and belittle feminism and feminists, this is for you.

It is important to understand that every degree you earn, every paycheck you received and every personal asset that is in your own name is because of a woman who called herself a feminist. It baffles me when I hear women say things such as, “those feminists have ruined the family structure.” Or “there’s no need for feminism nowadays.” For one, if there is anyone who believes that women are treated with equality in the pubic sphere in life is deeply mistaken. There are so many aspects of inequality and injustices against woman that are so deeply and intricately woven into our society that perhaps it goes unnoticed by many. Nonetheless, I digress.

Furthermore, it is my opinion that not every woman has to identify as a feminist, as I do not. This is because I believe that everyone was born with a passion inside of them; a passion that has been long discovered or one that has not been discovered yet. Some passions lead women to be animal rights activists, teachers or doctors. Although an individual may be a woman it does not mean that they will choose to identify as a feminist in the same way that there are some African Americans who are deeply impassioned about environmentalism or animal cruelty versus racial equality.

Still, I do not understand how someone from one of these communities despite their leading passion cannot lend a helping hand to support a cause that will benefit them greatly. I do not understand how someone can try to downplay feminism when all of the successes a modern woman now has access to was established through the activism of feminism.

It is my understanding that a lot of woman shy away from many things that involve the word "feminism" because of various reasons. One reason is because of the way that it has been portrayed and sometimes the hatred through which people have tried to make it thrive. However, within every organization there is good and bad, and what is at the core of feminism is what is at the core of American politics and society, which is freedom and justice for all. So to deny the progress of feminism or to denigrate it as a whole is to denigrate an aspect of the American Dream.

The fact that as a woman I can hold a high-ranking position in a corporation is because of a feminist. The fact that for so long women were seen as perennial children or individuals prone to hysteria but now we can be apart of politics is because of a feminist. We can be detectives, cops, FBI agents, judges, or even just a stay at home mother and wife who owns property. This speaks to the hard work of the woman who came before us and it should be respected, not ignored, forgotten or underplayed by the women of present time.

Feminism, or justice for women operates in a variety ways for many women because we all have different experiences and different worldviews. Somewhere there is feminist working to ensure the rights or better the conditions of women everywhere and you may be the woman who will need it the most