By Emily Scott
Business and Op-Ed Editor

Man-hater, extremist are usually the terms that are sarcastically given to me when I tell them I’m a feminist. Lying in these sarcastic comments is an underlying feeling of truth. Feminism has unfortunately become synonymous with a radical hate of the opposite gender, which is hardly the case.
Feminism is in no way about women being superior to men. Feminism is about giving women a chance to empower themselves. It’s about straying away from the jokes of “get back in the kitchen” and being seen as more than just a sex object. In a time so engulfed by media, women are sexualized often in movies and TV shows and gives young girls the wrong idea of what they should look like.
Feminism is just the crazy notion that women are actually people too. Men can be feminists too. It is just idea of equal rights of women and men. This movement has become an ignorant stereotype. People expect feminists to be ugly, hairy women with hostile thoughts towards men which is just another uniformed stereotype.
The most important reason for feminism is due to this era’s rape culture. These issues are usually not taken seriously and are misreported or under-represented. Rape crime in some universities is deemed “misconduct” to spare the reputation of the university and any issue is downplayed. The victims are usually blamed for the rape. They’re asked “why didn’t you just say no?” or told “maybe you led them on” and it affects the victims even more negatively because they will believe it was their fault.
Feminism affects everyone. It is an issue that should be easy to take a stand on. Women should not let men only view them as a trophy. The only reason feminism is such a hard movement to catch on to is because people are afraid of change.
I really do wish there wasn’t a need for feminism, but as of right now women are still fighting for our equal rights. Until society reaches that point, feminism should be understood and not compared to a radical group.