What does it mean to be a feminist? Well, by definition, it means that you support feminism. Now, the big question: what is feminism? It seems nowadays that the definition of feminism changes based on who you’re talking to. According to the Oxford Dictionary the words feminism means, “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.”

Feminists focus on issues such as: reproductive rights, abortion rights, sexual violence and rape, child marriage, and many more on a global scale. Many of the topics feminists advocate change for are not only limited to woman either. Which brings us to the common misconception that only woman can be feminists. Contrary to popular belief; anyone can be a feminist.

Feminism is constantly misconstrued as an effort to minimize men and put women higher on the “societal scale”. Which, is not at all true. “A feminist to me is someone who advocates for equal opportunities for women and for men. I think a feminist in the modern sense is someone who just thinks that women and men and people who identify other types of genders all are deserving of the same treatment” said science teacher Lesli Rahn.

Advocating for feminism isn’t difficult either, everyday students such as senior Abby Payne explains how she advocates. “If someone thinks feminism is about woman being superior to men, which is completely not the case, I have to stand up for it and explain what it actually is.”

I sent out a poll to the students and staff and found that 56.9% of  participants said they would call themselves a feminist. 43.1% of participants said they wouldn’t call themselves a feminist. Those numbers truly surprised me, so I went out and tried to find people to interview on why they wouldn’t call themselves a feminist. I went from classroom to classroom during a seminar however couldn’t find anyone who disagreed with feminism. So, my polling quite surprised me.

Ultimately, “The feminist movement started as a movement aimed at making woman and men equal and I believe that’s what we should still be doing” said Earth and Space Science teacher Derrick Stockton, and I couldn’t agree more. Feminism is a good movement, and will only help better our society.