It was probably around this time last year when two half-slips of paper were passed around my homeroom. They were two surveys, and they started out innocently enough, asking about your favorite Mexican restaurant. Then came the next one. “Are you a male or female?” it read. “Do you believe ‘feminism’ has a positive or negative connotation?” Confidently, I circled “positive”, to which the person next to me scoffed and said something along the lines of, “really? Do you even know what that means?”

According to the dictionary, feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Personally, I just don’t see what’s negative about that. Surely, society engraves into the minds of men that they are superior to women, that feminism is merely a riot of angry girls trying to rob men of their power and masculinity and take over the world. If the majority of men continue buying into this belief that they must stand their ground against women, we won’t make any progress towards equality. We’ll only go backwards as men try harder and harder to reclaim their “position.” Of course, many feminists are legitimately angry about their portrayal and the roles of women in society. But can we really blame them?

Here’s an example: when I was in middle school, my parents divorced. This left my mother taking on the role of two parents. For a while, she had her regrets. How could she, a weak, dependent woman go about this daunting task on her own? Since then, she defied all odds and broke free of the “hopeless single mother” mold society told her she would fall into. Today, she may work a strenuous, back-breaking job, but she has managed to raise three kids alone and I’ve never seen her happier. It was this that changed my perception of the world and the “lines” society draws between genders. My mother, along with women as a whole, is every bit as capable of leading lives as any man.

It’s important to take into account situations like this. Women are not put on this earth to be the property of men. Their job is not to cook, clean, and give birth. In 2014, it is more important than ever to realize this. Since ancient civilizations, women were second-class citizens. In early America, the only way for women to achieve basic human rights were if they were widowed. Otherwise, they belonged to their all-powerful husband or father.

“But women have rights,” you may argue. “They can vote! They can work and get paid.” Sure. But much like the repercussions of slavery still linger around today in the form of racism and prejudices long after its abolishment, women are still being oppressed right this very second, here in America and all over the world.

Let me ask you a question. How many times have you heard someone make a joke along the lines of “women belong in the kitchen”, or, “women can’t drive”, or “men get paid more than women because they work harder?”, or, “why is she dressed like that? Does she have no respect for herself?”  Chances are, you’ve heard these quite a bit. This is exactly what feminism is striving to end.

All in all, feminism is an important issue that should not be ignored by men because it’s “unfair” or “not their problem.” It’s an important issue that’s gone through many waves throughout history, and it needs as many people as possible to ensure that this time, it sticks and rewrites gender standards once and for all. If more men realized and accepted the true definition of feminism, we could advance so much further. In fact, the benefit of gender equality is twofold. In a feminist world, men would no longer be portrayed as needing to be some macho, stone-cold higher power. Most importantly, nor would women be seen as dependent on them for a good life. Gender equality is about just that. Equality, and nothing more. This is the modern world, one consumed by smartphones, computers, and artificial intelligence; but before we move any further, it’s important that we take a step back, look at ourselves and the world around us, and realize that we’re all human, just the same.