As some of you may know, or have already been able to guess, ‘feminism’ is one of my favorite ‘f’ words.

It’s funny to me that usually when I say ‘feminism,’ however, you’d think I just yelled out the f-bomb in church from the looks I get.

But as soon as a man says he is a feminist, he gets a standing ovation and all the ‘hey girl’ memes.

Meanwhile, I get questioned about my intentions, asked if I am a “feminazi,” or told that I’m a straight-up bitch.

To move forward from these experiences, I am writing this column to explain what feminism is, because I do not feel that this is a campus that receives widespread education on feminism itself, much less so on why it is momentously important.

In its most basic form, feminism is “a movement towards equal society for male, female and transgender people, without discrimination,” according to an article by the Huffington Post.

There are several types of feminism – white feminism (which focuses exclusively on the rights and position of white women), intersectional feminism (which focuses on the rights and position of people as they are socially categorized on the basis of race, sex, class, gender, and religion), and radical feminism (which questions the necessity of social categorization and social institutions at all).

The various forms of feminism that exist challenge the existing patriarchal society we live in to varying degrees, and with varying representation of those that they fight for.

For those of you unfamiliar with this, patriarchy and patriarchal societies are “characterised by current and historic unequal power relations between women and men whereby women are systematically disadvantaged and oppressed,” according to the London Feminist Network.

It is no secret that women have been constructed as being the ‘weaker’ sex – and, therefore, the coded insult and degradable body in our society.

Just listening to a single conversation amongst the typical group of college men can attest to that. The use of gendered terminology in phrases such as “he’s a little bitch” is all that you need to know that this construction exists.

For those of you saying to yourself, “That’s so stupid! That’s such a small thing to say. How can that possibly matter?”

It is incredibly easy to pass off these things. Just recognize that you are making room for hateful inclinations towards women – and the smallest snowball can quickly turn into an avalanche.

To further complicate this, let’s open the conversation a little.

Men can easily say “I love women. Isn’t that enough? Why does (insert feminist issue here) matter?” when it comes to feminism.

Wake up call: That is not loving a woman as your equal.

You are saying: “I love this particular gendered body that can provide me with a specific kind of pleasure, but their rights do not matter – they should be satisfied by me and only me. Why isn’t that enough?”

Additionally, shifting the perspective from ‘we’ to the pro-intersectional, collective group that makes up the ‘us’ that can benefit from feminism opens a whole new door – the rest of the world.

Feminism is important because women-identifying people are not the ‘weaker’ sex.

Feminism is important because we are treated as if we are less than worthy because of that belief.

Worldwide, the numbers of women who are subjected to violence, hatred and misery on the basis of their gender identity are sobering.

According to The Independent, “Globally, about one in three women will be beaten or raped during their lifetime. 38 percent of all murders of women worldwide are committed by a woman’s intimate partner … Only 76 countries have legislation that specifically addresses domestic violence – and just 57 of them include sexual abuse.”

Being a good feminist means keeping the histories, lives and conditions of others in mind.

This means that as much as I focus on the issues in my immediate surroundings, I can also pay attention to and recognize the validity of the experiences of those who are different from myself.

That is what feminism is: to see others with the same importance and validity that you do those who are like yourself, and to distribute power amongst all communities so they can operate safely in their own social worlds. That is why feminism matters.

Sophia Stephens is a senior english literature and comparative ethnic studies major from wenatchee. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of the Office of Student Media.