Why feminism?

I get asked this question all the time: why do you care about feminism so much? My usual response is 'why don't you care about it so much?' It's such an important issue and I, for one, cannot ignore it now that I am aware of it.

I first got interested in the issue of feminism at university. I became more aware of the inequality of men and women than I ever had been. Seeing the uni 'LAD' culture and how so many men really did think of women as objects really opened my eyes to the problem. I had been at an all girls' secondary school and sixth form, women were always celebrated there. But, at university, although women were allowed education, the treatment of so many in the social side was horrifying. While I have met some great men at university, there were far too many who followed this 'LAD' mentality and treated women like shit as a result.

I heard about sexual harrassment and abuse from so many people as if it were the norm. Girls expected to be groped on a night out and pestered by guys for their number. Being around all this made me realise just how bad the situation for women was and still is. Sure, society has come a long way in the past century but it's still got a long way to go.

All of this at university made me sad. Although, it also made me very angry. How dare men feel entitled to our bodies? How dare they treat another human being in these ways? This led to me researching more and more about feminism throughout my time at university. It all culminated in my dissertation being on the topic of Second Wave Feminism in Great Britain.

Still asking why?

Because I believe that women are humans. I believe that women deserve the same rights as men. I believe in equality. I want to be able to walk the streets at night without fear of being raped. I want to be able to earn the same as a man in the same job as me. I want men to see me as another person, not just as a body. I want the pressure on women to look a certain way to stop.

And for me, the way I see it, feminism is about all of this and much more. I stand by a feminism which includes anyone who identifies as a woman, from any country, from any race. A feminism which looks to equality and liberation. Women deserve the same rights as men, no exceptions. People often say that feminism is no longer needed but, this is not the case. Wikipedia defines it as:

"Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women."

Women still do not have equal rights and that means that feminism is still needed in societies all around the world. If we have the opportunity to, why shouldn't we fight for equality in whatever way we can?