While many believe that feminism is a sacred cult of women who have sworn to kill all the men in the world, this isn’t true. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, feminism is “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.”

Women and men don’t truly have equal rights or opportunities in our modern day society. It certainly shouldn’t be this way, since all genders should be equal.

One in five women are raped in their lifetime, according to the New York Times. On rainn.org, the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, it tells us that 97 percent of rapists never go to jail or are ever punished. Instead of teaching our girls to be afraid, we should teach our boys to be decent. This is a very big issue. Rape is a crime that should not be taken lightly.

Women and men have equal rights in the present day, you’d assume. Although, in many aspects, this isn’t exactly true. Pay-equity.org tells us that in 2013, women only earned 78.3 percent as much money as men did for the exact same job. Women who graduate university with straight As will earn as much money as a male who earned Cs.

Society also teaches girls that in order to be successful, our looks are more valued than our brains or personalities. This can cause eating disorders, as 24 million people of all ages suffer from an eating disorder in the U. S., according to anad.org. A survey that Levine MP and Smolak L. conducted suggested that 83 percent of adolescent girls read fashion magazines for four hours a week. Another survey by Kilborne J. says that when girls, aged 11-17, were offered three magic wishes, their number one wish was to “lose weight and keep it off.” Society tells us our worth is based on our waistlines. We shouldn’t need to base everything off of looks, but instead look at one’s personality.

Nothing has really been done to help women’s place in society. However, it’s so easy to reduce pay gap. Just pay women the same amount as men. Talk to your boss about it, or write a letter or an email to your city hall or state senator. We should also teach our girls to be self-confident. Look in the mirror every morning, and tell yourself you are beautiful. Keep doing that until you believe it, and keep doing it when you do.

No matter what you hear, feminists aren’t the “kill all men” type of people. Feminism is the belief that all genders should be treated equally, and that hasn’t happened yet. Men can be feminists as well as women and it shouldn’t be seen as a girly trait. We all deserve to be equal.