A long time ago, the topic of feminism casually popped up at my place of work. I smiled and without thinking mentioned that I was a feminist. At the time, I naively assumed that tying my name to this word would allow me to be received in a positive light. After all, I grew up with the assumption that feminism meant equality and freedom of choice for ALL human beings. The idea of someone not wanting to be a feminist was something that was completely absurd to me because shouldn’t everyone want freedom? Shouldn’t everyone want to be treated as an equal human being? Shouldn’t everyone recognize the worth of their neighbors no matter their gender, race, sexuality, social class, etc.? I was quickly slapped in the face with a harsh reality check when I noticed my coworker’s faces. After I dropped the big F-bomb the entire room filled up with a cloud of awkwardness that left me completely dumbfounded. The next day at work someone pulled me aside and told me that my boss overheard me identify as a feminist and was concerned that it would stand in the way of my work. He felt that perhaps my “hatred of men” would prohibit me from following rules and perhaps I would treat my male coworkers as lesser human beings. My heart sank into my stomach. How could a word that has brought such empowerment and positivity into my life be interpreted in such a dirty way? How has promoting the equality of all humans, not just women, by the way, blackened my name and ruined my reputation? That moment was a gigantic paradigm shift for me because it was the first time that I realized how twisted and dirty the word “feminism” has become interpreted. Feminism is a movement which ALL human beings can benefit from, even the men who looked at me with disdain and contempt that day. As a feminist activist, it is pertinent to me that we all work together to create a world that is socially just; however, we can only do that through ongoing education and willingness to unlearn ingrained behaviors. If people are avoiding the feminist movement like the plague because they have been fed lies and myths about assumed “man haters,” then we will never evolve. It is important to me that the word feminism is seen as the positive and powerful movement that it is.

Here are some of the top lies and misconceptions about feminism:

1. Feminists hate men

This could not be further from the truth because believe it or not, men actually need feminism too. Sexism negatively impacts BOTH men and women (and all genders for that matter.) Sexist stereotypes force men to be hyper-masculine from a very early age and create expectations for them to be completely out of touch with their emotions. Having any sort of “feelings” is seen as feminine and thus weak so if men want to avoid ridicule and shame then they are encouraged to be emotional brick walls. Additionally, there are no reliable statistics on male sexual assault cases because sexual violence is seen as something that can only happen to women since yet again women are the “weaker” gender. Feminism fights to smash all stereotypes that have been produced out of the patriarchy, even the ones affecting the gender with the most power in our society.

2. Feminists are bra-burning lesbians.

First of all, feminists come in ALL genders and sexualities because as I have mentioned, it is a movement for ALL humans. Second of all, the bra burning stereotype comes from a myth about an action that never even happened. In 1968 there was a feminist protest where women threw their bras and cosmetics in a trash can to serve as a statement about expectations of womanhood. There wasn’t even a fire involved but through years of retelling this event, the story has become twisted into angry women with flames. Either way, whether or not a woman decides to wear a bra or even if she feels like sending her bra up in flames is totally up to her. There is plenty bra wearing feminists, anti- bra wearing feminists, feminists who are men, feminists who are men and wear bras, and so on and so forth.

3. Feminism has nothing to do with racial issues.

This is a huge problem among white feminists. If your feminism does not extend to people of racial minorities then I have news for you- you aren’t a feminist. Being a feminist requires you to fight for the equality of ALL people, not just the white folk. This means that if you are a white feminist then you need to be aware of your privilege so that you can stand as an ally to those who experience racial discrimination.

4. Feminists hate housewives.

Some feminists ARE housewives. Some feminists love cooking, cleaning, wearing frilly dresses, and having children. Feminism is all about giving women the choice to be whoever they want to be without boxing them in to gender roles. I am a feminist and I have known since I was a kid that I will never be a housewife because that life would leave me incredibly unfulfilled; however, I have plenty of feminist friends who feeling quite the opposite and would like nothing more than to get married and even become a stay at home mom which is perfectly okay! Feminism is about the freedom of choice and accepting others who make different choices than you.

5. Feminists are just overreacting.

For every five men in congress, there is still only one woman.

Out of 50 states, 24 have never elected a woman governor.

Women get paid 77 cents on the dollar for every dollar a man makes.

Women make up 85 percent of domestic abuse victims.

In the past year, more than 468 bills related to restricting women’s health and access to reproductive rights have been introduced in state legislatures while there have been 0 restrictions regarding men’s bodies.

These are just a few of the facts that drive feminists. Fighting for equality is not an overreaction. Belittling feminists for fighting for these issues only further silences women and perpetuates sexism.