Feminism is more than a word, more than an individual, and more than an identity. In the words of Tavi Gevinson, editor-in-chief of Rookie Mag, an online feminist magazine for teen girls, feminism is a discussion, a conversation, and a process. It's not a set of rules and restrictions, and it's definitely not an attack on men, but it's a fight, and it's a long one. Over time, various connotations surrounding the word “feminist” have developed to form an image of angry, misandrist, bra-burning women who should not be taken seriously as thinkers and agents of social change. One rejection of feminism that I often hear seems to be that feminists are just looking for things to get angry about, reasons to complain, so we feel like we have a cause and need to "calm down." Many people, including a large population on our campus, think that we as a society are “post-gender”: gender inequality is over, and no one treats anyone differently because of their gender identity. These people don't understand why we need feminism because they have a very narrow understanding of what feminism is. Even if the idea of ​​a post-gender society seems beautiful and utopian, approaching life and one's education with that mentality is corrosive, breeding ignorance and complacency to the detriment of everyone (not just women, but everyone ). Describing the feminist movement as unnecessary is just a way to silence conflicting opinions because no one wants to question their values. As Melissa McEwan wrote in her article Feminsm 101: “Feminists look for things to get angry about”: “the idea that dealing with “the little things,” like being told to smile or wearing misogynistic T-shirts, somehow diminishes feminism or distracts from "real" or "serious" sexism is utt... middle of paper... you call a woman "bossy" or "bitch" because she is demanding and responsible in a way that you would consider normal for a man, when you are put off by the strength and confidence in a woman's tone that would otherwise be normal on a man, when you claim that women don't strive for leadership positions because they are naturally more self-aware than men, you are holding up the wage gap. You are preventing women from achieving their goals. You are causing the self-consciousness that stops women from going after what they want and what they deserve. Women aren't born that way; we are all forced to think this way by the microaggressions we experience growing up. Every forum, every discussion, is a step towards understanding what to do about these problems and eradicating them. Every time someone speaks up and challenges someone else's ignorance, it's progress.