I need feminism

I need feminism because society teaches girls to wear longer skirts rather than teaching boys not to stare.

I need feminism because society comforts women struggling with their body image by telling them that men like curvier women, as if the sole purpose of a woman’s body is to impress men.

I need feminism because the education and empowerment of women in developing countries is the only way to battle poverty.

I need feminism because society calls a woman who wears a short skirt a whore and a woman who wears a long skirt a prude.

I need feminism because society calls a woman who says yes a slut and a woman who says no a bitch.

I need feminism because dead bodies have more body autonomy than pregnant women.

I need feminism because people should respect all other people, regardless of gender.

I need feminism because young boys are taught that it is shameful to lose to a girl in a game.

I need feminism because the word “pussy”, a part of female anatomy, has come to be an insult meaning lacking in confidence or manhood.

I need feminism because every hour, a woman in India is killed because her family cannot afford to give her husband a dowry.

I need feminism because self-proclaimed pro-lifers care more about the life of an embryo than the life of a grown, respectable woman.

I need feminism because never having experienced street harassment shouldn’t make me feel unattractive.

I need feminism because I can open my own doors, thank you.

I need feminism because women in Saudi Arabia cannot drive and women in Vatican City are still waiting for the vote.

I need feminism because the patriarchy oppresses men just as much as it oppresses women.

I need feminism because a woman’s place is in the house and the senate.

I need feminism because society compliments girls on their physical attractiveness on every occasion no matter how irrelevant it is, and yet mocks girls for caring about their appearance.

I need feminism because women’s products cost up to double the amount as corresponding products for men, yet women earn less pay for doing the same job.

I need feminism because society teaches us, “Don’t get raped” instead of “Don’t rape”.

I need feminism because even if “not all men” are wicked, if you eat a handful of M&Ms from a bowl of which 10% are poisoned, you will still die (a miserable death).

I need feminism because for a woman, walking on the street is more dangerous than playing Russian Roulette.

I need feminism because catcalls are not compliments.

I need feminism because women like me should be able to do what we want and say what we want and wear what we want, when we want and where we want, without living in constant fear.

But we can’t.