By Timothy Smirnov and Ruhsora Akbarova:

The Feminist movement began nearly 200 years ago with women fighting for their right to vote. Fast forward to today, and it still seems nearly impossible for women to be taken seriously for their basic rights and struggles. This is mostly due to the large amount of people with the misconception of what the true definition of Feminism is.

Media portrayals of the Feminist movement is largely depicted as a flock of unshaven white lesbians, throwing their bras into the flames while howling their hatred for men. This depiction is known as a “Straw Feminist.” This portrayal of the modern Feminist is off-putting and leads most viewers to form an irrational connotation with the term.

While the “Straw Feminist” tells us that Feminism should be about the superior sex, in reality, feminists are both men and women (and anyone in between) from different cultures and backgrounds who join together to advocate social, economic and political equality between all members of society.

Society sells the image of the ideal woman as an anatomically impossible obedient housewife, all-the-while portraying an almost Herculean image of masculinity in men. Because the idea of polarity between men and women has become so widespread and prominent, most people don’t understand that this is not true at all. Having the idea of gender being rigid, and opposing the other, creates dissonance between the genders when in reality, the lines are blurred among the roles we each carry. At the end of the day, gender is just a social construct that was created to define roles amongst two biological sexes.

What it means to be a Feminist reaches far beyond what we experience here in the United States.  Today’s Feminist movement fights for a wide variety of issues including domestic violence, human trafficking, and the wage gap. Understanding the basics of feminism and the Feminist movement is a step in the right direction toward the ultimate goal of equality.