"Why are young girls learning about feminism? This isn't the 1960's! Things are different!"

"I support girls, but, like, I wouldn't consider myself a feminist."

"You feminists can't even handle a simple joke!" 

Notice a growing trend here? 

Feminism a label commonly used to define the empowerment of women and girls as well as other gender minorities (such as genderfluid or trans* people) has been normalized in our everyday vernacular to have a negative connotation. We associate feminism with bad things, such as someone who's bossy, someone who's venomous and demanding, someone who's selfish. 

Feminism is not defined by these things, and if you have ever found yourself thinking or saying the phrases mentioned above previously, you need to remove those toxic connections between feminism and negativity from your consciousness. 

Many people might disagree with me. They'll claim, "Yeah, yeah, but why should I change my habits and way of thinking when I see women around me being what I consider powerful?"

There's a simple answer to that question: because societal perception towards women being in power varies depending on the context, and, especially in the cases of women who are minorities, there are many cases and situations in which they are misrepresented. Also, another valid argument against that point would be that there are many instances in the media in which women are actually NOT represented as "powerful" beings in the same way that men are, and they are objectified and sexualized but we have learned to view that as normal, humorous, erotic, or associate it with other feelings of positivity.

So, let's backtrack a little here for anyone reading this who's sitll confused about feminism. In our world, people often perceive empowered women or anything affiliated with that as negative. When women are objectified or sexualized, it's perceived as normal, maybe even positive, depending on the context. 

I can bring up countless examples in which women are subjected to the unfair backlash from sexist undertones in sociocultural settings, but I'll refer to one example in particular in this case scenario. It has to do with something that has affected both me and people I am friends with personally, and it is something that, as a teen who is entering new relationships and exploring socially, I am subjected to on a daily basis. (Please, bear in mind that I understand that there are several issues regarding misogyny that would be considerably more important because of moral standards, however, I want to write about what I can personally relate to the most myself.)

I'm talking about beauty standards in modern media and society.

Beauty standards have never favored anyone. In fact, throughout all of history, both men and women have been molded by the belief that they must look and act a certain way to be considered beautiful or sexually attractive in any way. But while the damaging effects I see related to men's standards, such as the pressure to be masculine and strong or the pressure to be sports-oriented or do things traditionally considered as "manly", do not begin to compare to the effects I see from the beauty standards that are aimed and used against women at a far more consistent rate.

Basically, let's face it, women have the worse end of the stick when it comes to beauty standards. By a long shot. 

One instance where someone that I was dearly close to--we'll call her Georgie for the sake of the story--moved me to tears when she had first shared it with me. 

Georgie was overweight during most of her life up until her freshman year of highschool. For her, middle school was a nightmare. She struggled with her self-image and the pressure from those around her, including family members, to look a certain way. 

Sadly, this is typical of a whopping number of the teenage girl population today.

Going back to the story, Georgie experienced firsthand encounters with harrassment and bullying because of the way she looked. Some kids pointed at her in the hallways, jeering at her expense. 

What moved me to tears was the moment she shared with me an experience in which she had been walking down the hallway and a group of boys in her middle school pointed at her and called her a whale. It might seem a bit silly to cry at that, but having experienced a similar situation in regards to my own body-image, I could only imagine how horrible and how idiotic she must have felt in that moment. 

I've known Georgie personally for a little over a year now. She is one of the most wonderful, funny, cheery people I know. We're constantly laughing to ourselves and offering each other advice on personal issues. When those kids pointed at her and labeled her as an animal that's one of the largest ones in the world, her identity as a real person with real feelings was diminished. None of those people could ever imagine that the girl who they insulted and verbally harrassed on her way to class was a truly wonderful girl with a charming personality. They didn't view her as a girl. They viewed her as an object, judging and ridiculing her without sparing a second to think about the emotional and psychological consequences that could come from talking to another person like that. 

What's worse was that she was faced with situations like these constantly.

Suicidal thoughts and actions on the borderline of anorexia haunted her throughout that period in Georgie's life, and it was all caused by a single source: "I'm not pretty enough, therefore, my worth as a human being is gone."

My heart swells with empathy for the girls who have ever, or currently do, experience thoughts like these. 

It's nice to think about how our world is changing rapidly and growing more accepting of the feminist label, but even so, with this rise of feminism, there are those who resent it. There are some people who simply refuse to change their method of thinking and communicating because they have been taught their whole life that their notions on gender and women is normal or acceptable, and that since it's "not as bad as it is in other places", that their words have no negative repercussions in society or the way it functions. There are those that are misinformed about the subject because they live in a world that discourages people from attaining "radical" belief systems that favor minorities, or in this case, women. There are those that are simply extremely lacking in empathy who choose not to do anything about it.

Don't be those people.

Inspire girls around you to attain self-love and fight for the rights of girls all over the world who lack fundamental human civilty. Inspire the people around you to accept feminist ideologies because, yes people, feminism is still a necessity. Even in 2015.