A Teenage Feminist

fem-i-nism: "The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes." -Emma Watson

Feminism is a hot word right now- cropping up everywhere from social media and news to clothing and entertainment television. The number of young people that identify as "feminists" is fast growing. I believe that for this reason, the older generation refuses to take the movement seriously. "How could a 14 year old possibly know what it means to be a feminist? " Yet, many of the struggles and aspirations of our generation are ones that our mothers and grandmothers first began fighting for over a century ago: equal pay for equal work; a place in society not determined by the clothes we wear or by our gender but by the quality of our character...For me, as for many others, feminism simply symbolizes the world I look forward to as I move to take my place within it. I hope for a world in which my aspirations to become a neurosurgeon do not automatically exclude me from having a family and the experiences that come with that. I hope for a world where women are not criticised for showing lack of ambition in the job field and conversely accused of being bad mothers. I dream of a world where women will not be shamed and will not shame each other on body image. Women will be proud of who they are and brain content will be valued over amount of cleavage shown. Most importantly,  I hope for a world where men and women will stand side by side to put and end to issues such as domestic violence and education inequality.In the 1960's, women protested the social quotas that told them their greatest fullfilment would come from being housewives and mothers without offering them a real choice in the matter. Although we have taken great strides since the 1960's, social constrictions still exist for girls today. Modern jokes continue to poke fun at girls who do nothing moreover than shoe shop and do their hair while boys go out and play sports and do "man's work" and fight wars. Our society has reached a new phase where it is politically incorrect to not believe in gender equality and where all the laws and rules appear to be written to support equality yet women still end up with the short end of the stick. This is because in modern America we are living in a disillusioned state- superficially everything is equal but in peoples' hearts and minds the gender gap still exists.Halfway across the globe women and girls are being blatantly denied their basic human rights. Girls are shot for going to school, face execution for being the "wrong" religion or not following "laws", and are treated worse than cattle- turned into sex slaves with a premium price being placed on girls between 1-9 years old.The horrific reality of our situation brings to light the amount of work that needs to be done. So the next time you don't feel like taking a teenage feminist seriously, think twice. We strive to live in a world where people are treated not as conveniently named labels but as human beings all of the same race and species and all deserving the same rights and privileges as everyone else. Don't you?