In light of the recent election, Donald Trump’s actions, the Women’s March and everything else blowing up all over your timelines, we need to get a few things straight. No matter if you are a Democrat, Republican or anywhere in between, there needs to be some things we understand as people. Here are some words and misconceptions to consider.

1. Feminism

This word has somehow become dirty, gross, an insult, and completely skewed from what it truly is. Being a feminist simply means you believe in gender equality. Period. It means you want equal work for equal pay. It means you do not believe someone with a penis is inherently better than someone with a vagina or vice versa. Whether you are a man or a woman wanting gender equality is something we should all want for ourselves and for our future daughters and sons. Being a feminist has nothing to do with hating men or arguing that women are better. It has nothing to do with shaving your armpits or wearing makeup. Feminism protests against inequality of the sexes. Standing up and labeling yourself a feminist is not dirty, gross, or an insult. It is pledging that you will fight for equality and believe men and women deserve to stand on even ground and break that glass ceiling. Burning the patriarchy to the ground does not mean burning men…it means burning a structure in society that was built to only hold us back.

2. Protest

Why do liberal crybabies always have to protest and cause such a fuss over every little thing, what’s done is done. Sounds familiar? It most likely does since it seems to be a pretty popular opinion at the moment. One of the greatest things about being a citizen in the United States is having the right to freedom of speech. Whether you are on the left, right, or middle, you have the right to voice your opinion. You have the right to stand up and say you disagree, what is going on is wrong, we need change, that is your right. If we should not protest what should we do? Keep every opinion to ourselves that is not popular? Peaceful protests have proven to invoke change and force those with power to listen to the people. The second we are silenced and voiceless is the moment our democracy is dead.

3. Immigrant/Refugee

The United States has been described as a melting pot. Our nation is built on many different cultures, ideas, perspectives, and traditions. Unfortunately our country has taken most of this away. Throughout history we have forced conformity. We have oppressed whatever we see as “foreign”. We give power to white wealthy men and take it from the people. The word immigrant has also been distorted and abused to mean things other than what an immigrant truly is. Immigrants built this nation. We are a nation of immigrants remember that.

--The word refugee describes those who have been forced to flee their country to escape war or unlivable conditions. In a country built on diversity tolerance is of the highest importance.

4. Transgender

A simple definition of a trans person is someone whose gender identity does not parallel the given gender at birth. On the other hand transsexuals transition from their given sex to another. For a more in depth definition reference: http://www.medicaldaily.com/what-difference-between-transsexual-and-transgender-facebooks-new-version-its-complicated-271389

5. Pro-Choice

Since the alternative to this word is pro-life people often assume pro-choice translates to pro-death. The best way to define pro-choice is to first explain choice. The word choice does not necessarily mean life or death. It means I do not believe my beliefs should dictate what you can and cannot do with your own body…that is your choice. In a circumstance in which a pregnancy needs to be terminated there could be infinite factors contributing to the reasoning behind it: health, rape, incest, age, ability to care/provide for the child, drugs, the list goes on and on. Many people do not feel comfortable terminating a pregnancy and that is their right to not do so. But should it be their right to determine what someone else can do with their own body and life? Should one person be able to look at another without knowing anything about them and make life-changing decisions on their behalf? Pro-choice simple means the right to choose.

6. Climate Change

The human race has consistently destroyed our planet year after year. Cutting down rainforests, taking habitats away from species after species, pollution in every sense of the word, oil spills, refusing to utilize sustainable options over non-sustainable ones to cut costs, and that is just the tip of the melting ice burg. Climate change is real and will continue to escalate whether or not we “believe in it”.

7. Black Lives Matter

One might assume just hearing this out of context that this means only black lives matter. Why wouldn’t all lives matter? This misconception proves how dim and blind we can all be to the unfortunate truths in our society. The Black Lives Matter movement did not begin due to the wonderful treatment of African American citizens in our country. Obviously all lives matter. In light of police brutality, systematic racism, race driven violence, and hate crimes, the Black Lives Matter Movement suggests that black lives simply matter. This does not mean they matter more. It is the bare minimum. People are marching in the streets just saying hey, my life matters...and people somehow find fault in this. People tend to have a problem with everything and anything but arguing against the simple thought that a life matters means you are missing the point entirely. The world would be a simple place if we “didn’t see color” and everyone was “equal” but that is not a word we live in. We currently live in a society built on slavery, built on the oppression of black people, and until we are all willing to accept that and leave it in the past it will live in the present.

8. Muslim

Someone who follows the practices of Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. With any religion everyone practices, and even believes differently within the community. Some Christians consistently go to church while others do not but they are still Christian. Some Jewish families celebrate Christmas in addition to other celebrations but they are still Jewish. Muslims are the same, there are people varying in faith and practice all across the spectrum. Religion can be a community but also something that is very personal and has deep meaning that can only be found within. Religion is part of your identity. Many people associate the word Muslim with Islam, radical Islam, ISIS, and therefore terrorism and violence. This is more than just a damaging and wrong generalization; it is discrimination against religion that makes people feel marginalized due to their beliefs.

9. Sexual Assault/Harassment

The media: songs we listen to, movies we watch, advertisements on billboards, everything that influences us usually normalizes sexual assault and creates the rape culture that we all live in. Any kind of nonconsensual sexual contact would warrant a sexual assault right? Many people believe it is not possible to rape or sexually assault or harass your spouse. That is false. Some people believe the same goes for sex workers (prostitutes, escorts, ect) this is also false. Many people also believe that a drunk person can consent. The “she was asking for it” mentality and constant victim blaming makes it very difficult to define and implement repercussions for truly inexcusable acts of sexual violence. We as a society have failed to properly educate, teach the meaning of consent in sex Ed classes, teach our sons and daughters that rape is rape no matter what you were wearing or how much you drank, teach to respect other peoples bodies, we may have failed but we can make a change. Understanding the definitions is not enough if we do not stand up and collectively change our own mentality and eventually end rape culture.