Observe: a rare creature in her natural habitat, hissing at the nearest group of male subordinates as she lights a stolen Victoria’s Secret bra on fire, revealing her unshaved underarms.

Her favorite pastimes include stomping on the confidence of males, smearing the name of housewifery and trying out spunky boy haircuts before going home and worshipping her shrine to Gloria Steinem and Hillary Clinton.

Jokes, jokes; feminism isn’t actually about not shaving your legs or behaving “like a boy.”  Feminism is nothing to fear.

In fact, if you search for the definition of the word “feminism” in a reputable dictionary like Merriam-Webster, you will find that it simply means “the theory of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.”  It sounds harmless, right?

After all, in the twenty-first century, isn’t equality one of our society’s primary goals?

Backlash against feminism is largely characterized by misconceptions and stereotypes.

“I do not remember my first encounter with feminism; I think that it is just common sense.  I think that people are afraid of feminism because of the stereotypes of the crazy feminist,” said senior Joe Adsetts.

The truth of the matter is that women across the globe are still on the receiving end of tremendous disrespect by their male counterparts.

Feminism simply tries to provide security against this, because any society in which women are taken advantage of by virtue of their sex is far from equal.

“Recently, feminism has been more prevalent than ever,” said senior Kayla Conway.  “I wrote my college essay on it and I guess it has given me a different view when approaching schoolwork.  For example, when learning about history or analyzing literature, I almost subconsciously look towards the women’s roles because I find it interesting.  I consider myself more of a closet feminist only because I am not going around and preaching or making my beliefs known to everyone.  However, I like to discuss feminist issues, read different articles and just keep up in small ways.”

“What it all boils down to is equality, and feminism has been twisted in peoples’ minds too much,” said Adsetts.

Feminism, believe it or not, is not an attack on the male population.

It was not a theory created by a vicious group of man-hating women.  Feminism simply aims to give women opportunities.

The argument for feminism has nothing to do with being pro-choice, although a majority of feminists tend to align themselves with that particular view.

Feminist women, and men (yes, feminist men do exist), would like women to have the choice to start a career or raise a family or do both.

And while the choice may not always be an option, when taking financial needs into account, feminists want working women to be treated fairly in the workplace and in relationships.

“I think that feminism has become an important part of my life, but its importance is more personal,” said Conway.    “Some of my friends do not even know the impact that it has had on me.”

Although we are only teenagers, more often than not our lives as females are dictated by what we are told we cannot achieve because of gender, and feminism has given us the courage to let this not dictate our lives.

Feminism has given us the courage to stand up for what we have always thought (but had never confirmed) was right.

The self-confidence we have gained from our newfound beliefs outweighs any snarky, sexist comments we may receive from our peers.

The feminist community we have found and discovered from social networking sites and our high school has been the most comforting part of our lives thus far.

Feminist ideologies have opened our minds to the world at large, and have invested us in issues internationally and domestically, as well as make us dig deep into the world of politics.

We are now not only interested in the mechanisms of our society and its injustices or wrongdoings, but also feminist literature and triumphant historical changes throughout the waves of feminism.

Regardless of gender biases, we are determined to grow up in a world where our lives are not dictated by sexism, but rather by our passions and desires.

Although gender biases might say otherwise, we belong in the real world making decisions for oursleves.

We refuse to grow up in a society where we are not equal to my counterparts simply because of our gender.  This is what feminism is truly about.