I Hate the Word Feminist

Lizzy Price, Reporter

I hate the word Feminist.

I hate it because it’s so misused and looked at so negatively. 

I have been called one growing up because I always had strong opinions and would hate whenever anyone would say anything about girls not being able to do something just because they were a girl. 

It would make me so mad; I’d set out to do whatever that guy said girls couldn’t do. 

All my friends are guys and that shocked people because they would assume stuff because of what I stood for.

When you call yourself a feminist, people almost always make assumptions.

They throw you into the stigma that has surrounded feminism that makes a good thing look so bad! 

Growing up I always was the girl who hung with the guys; I was the” exception”, and I still am.

I was cool to play sports with and talk about “guy” stuff with, but if another girl came up and asked to play basketball or talk about dirt bikes, the boys I was with would say no simply because she was a girl. They just didn’t think she’d be any good or know what she was talking about, because they were competitive and she was a girl.

I was grateful I never got treated that way, because I was the athletic girl who all the guys considered one of them, but it still infuriated me; why was I different? If I could do it, any girl could. 

This injustice has always made me so mad to see other girls and women in this world be treated that way and discriminated against!

Whether that be in sports, getting jobs, or just being told no by all the boys that “ran” the courts at the park.

Why in this world is it so hard for people to accept that women deserve the same opportunities as any guy?

As far as we have come, there are still so many things in this world that hold women down. 

Including one of the biggest problems for women in our society, jobs. By jobs I mean getting paid; so many women are overworked and underpaid simply because they are women.

For example, my mother has been working for the same company for over 30 years. She is extremely reliable and does so much for her company, but there are still so many guys who haven’t been there as long nor do as good of work as her that get paid more! 

I will always support women and push for equal treatment. And I guess the first place I have to start is to help break the stigma of the word “Feminist”. 

I am a feminist. That does not mean that I hate men, I’m not gonna scream in your face, tell you your opinion is wrong, or that women are better than men.  All I want is equal opportunities for all!