To Whom It May Concern,

You do not need to be a feminist. You don't have to like feminism or be a part of it. No matter your gender, you are allowed to believe that feminism is not practical. That is your opinion, and I will respect what you think and what you believe. However, you have no right as an individual to bring me down for my choice to stand up for my own rights. As a woman, you may think you are equal and treated the same as men. That's okay, you can choose to believe that. But as a woman with a different mindset and beliefs, I do not think that our gender is treated equal to men.

Forty-five men have been in charge of our nation consecutively. For doing the same job as a man, we as women earn less than them. I am told I am weak and incapable of doing certain things. I am told that I belong in the kitchen. I have been harassed on the street by random men. I have never walked alone at night for fear of being raped. Women who are raped are blamed for the men attacking them. There is always a reason, even if there isn't. The woman was either dressed provocatively, drunk, or was being a tease. It's always something. We teach our women not to walk alone, to avoid men in groups, and to not give men a reason to rape us. We should be teaching our boys to respect women, instead of telling our women to hide themselves.

Women who aren't feminists often ask me why I hate men. What is unknown to many is that feminists are not strictly female; there are plenty of males who are part of the movement. Feminists do not hate men. We do not wish we could rule the world, or think men are stupid and inferior. We simply wish to be treated the same. We are tired. We want justice. We do not want our president teaching young boys and men of America that treating women horribly is right. We want to be heard.

I also hear the defense from anti-feminists that we must feel "weak" to have to believe in feminism. In fact, this is the exact opposite. We as feminists feel very powerful. So powerful, actually, that millions of women gathered across the entire nation in peaceful marches. Dozens of cities held gatherings where feminists peacefully let their voices be heard.

You see, that is all we want. We want to be able to be confident and powerful without being brought down. We want to be heard. We want to be treated equally. We want all genders to be treated the same.

It is entirely your choice to not believe you need feminism. You can choose to think it is unnecessary. Please, just do not belittle us for believing we do need it. Doing that just gives us one more reason to write articles about why we need feminism.

With Love,

A Very Angry Feminist.