Women constitute a majority of the population in the US, but are considered a minority.
On average, women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes.
There is a one in five chance for every college girl to get sexually assaulted.
One in three women will be domestically abused in their lifetime.

Everyday, women are marginalized in the media, and are treated more like dolls than people. Who cares if Hillary Clinton is talking about foreign policy - did you see that pant suit she was wearing?

The thing that is scariest to me is that no one thinks any of this is important to talk about - some people don’t even believe it’s a problem. Too many men in Congress won’t vote for a new equal pay act. Too many believe domestic violence and rape are the fault of women. The culture of victim blaming that absolves men of at least partially of guilt show a lack of respect to our women. There is the double standard. Men are players; women are sluts. Men are ambitious; women are cold-hearted and selfish.

Feminism is considered a fringe movement, full of women who don’t shave, burn their bras, and despise men. Instead of a movement to help our daughters and sisters and mothers and wives become strong and equal partners, we’ve made them less than they should be. We’ve made feminism into a dirty word, and made strong women who want what men have into something absurd and laughable. When strong women are treated with derision and mistrust, we know society has failed.

I believe in feminism.

I once told someone that I wanted to get my law degree and go into politics. “I want to make a difference,” I told her.

She gave me a confused look. “Those are very long hours you’ll have to work,” they said. “What about your kids?”

What about my hypothetical kids? Didn’t I want to be home with them, like any good soccer mom? Nevermind that 70% of mothers work - wasn’t I a bad hypothetical mother for abandoning my children to have a career? Shouldn’t my hypothetical husband go to work, and I can put my career on hold until my hypothetical kids are old enough? Isn’t that what women are supposed to do? The American dream?

I had a male friend who once told me that women don’t need birth control pills paid for by insurance companies.

“I don’t think insurance companies should pay for women to have sex,” he said.

“What about insurance companies paying for Viagra?” I asked.

“That’s different. Birth control pills aren’t necessary,” he said.

“Is Viagra?” I asked. “That’s paying for men to have sex.”

This is why feminism should be a part of our lives, a part of a national discussion on gender roles, harassment and discrimination. And this cannot be something one person does, or a couple of people do. It needs to be a mass movement by men and women to demand equality in society, as well as law.

So, feminism is my belief, even though it’s unpopular. It’s the cure to our long national illness. It may take awhile. It may take hard work. But equality is worth it.