<\/a>Photographs of young, privileged white women holding handwritten signs about why they \u201cdon\u2019t need feminism\u201d have been circulating the internet this week, showing up in my Facebook newsfeeds daily. I\u2019ve made concerned posts and comments regarding the issue – pointing out that women (and men, for that matter) who claim they don\u2019t need feminism are like individuals who feel that they don\u2019t \u201cneed\u201d turn signals.<\/p>\n

Feminism isn\u2019t about you. It\u2019s about the equality of the collective. You\u2019re right, conservative 20-something hiding behind your computer screen: You don\u2019t \u201cneed\u201d to be a part of the feminist movement in 2014. Women before you have been bending over backwards over the past 100 years so you can vote, drive a car, and plaster your inane anti-feminist sentiments all over the internet, for that matter. Thanks to feminism, you enjoy basic human rights in the United States.<\/p>\n

Is there still a long way to go? Clearly. Gender equality is far from being reached in this country. But as long as you can live comfortably in one of the richest countries in the world\u2014who cares about women in third world countries? Who cares about rape victims? Why should you care if another human being faces debilitating discrimination on a daily basis because of her genitals?<\/p>\n

But enough sarcasm, because there is one compelling reason you should care. You do need to be a feminist\u2014it is part of being a decent human being.<\/p>\n

The feminist movement seems to be full of apologies this week\u2014pointing out that the actions and words of a few extremists don\u2019t equal the sentiments of the movement of a whole. This attitude is quite troubling. There is no such thing as an \u201cextreme\u201d feminist, because equality, by definition is not \u201cextreme.\u201d Are there people out there who use the word \u201cfeminism\u201d as an excuse to blindly adopt hatred towards the male demographic? In every movement, you will find wolves in sheep\u2019s clothing. But no matter how convincing, a wolf will never be a \u201csheep.\u201d Likewise, anyone who isn\u2019t fighting for the equality of men and women isn\u2019t a feminist.<\/p>\n

Women who claim that they don\u2019t need feminism are simply ignorant. One such woman claimed that the reason she refused to identify with the movement was because she \u201crespected men.\u201d If she truly respected men, then she would work toward equality, because that promotes respect towards both genders and breaks down stereotypes that are unfair and oppressive to both men AND women.<\/p>\n

Another woman pointed out that she didn\u2019t \u201cfeel oppressed.\u201d That\u2019s the problem. She\u2019s been born and raised in a society in which inequality is the norm. Of course she doesn\u2019t feel oppressed: Oppression has become so ingrained into her daily life that it flies under the radar, swallowed by the masses.<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the most infuriating trends among the women identifying as \u201canti-feminist\u201d were the words \u201cI\u2019m not a victim.\u201d Because these women are victims of something darker and more sinister than they could even comprehend. Anyone parading around as an \u201canti-feminist\u201d is a victim of extreme ignorance. To reject equality is to reject the foundation of human rights.<\/p>\n

So, to the women claiming to be anti-feminists: You don\u2019t think you \u201cneed\u201d feminism – but you\u2019re the reason the rest of us do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photographs of young, privileged white women holding handwritten signs about why they \u201cdon\u2019t need feminism\u201d have been circulating the internet this week, showing up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":29602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[767,877],"tags":[2179],"yoast_head":"\n