How can you not be a feminist?

Up until I reached high school, I never thought a woman who wasn’t a feminist existed- until I met my best friend. She and I had very different political views, and I wanted to try to be accepting of her conservative views. And we had no conflict, until she offered to lend me a book that she had just read. The premise of the book was that men are the hunters, so women should be submissive and have babies. I was horrified, people actually still thought like this? I promptly told my friend, no, I have no desire to read something so demeaning. She was surprised, we had kept anything political/religious our of our friendship. She kept saying that it was so unnatural for women to work, women to be in power, even for women to ask guys out on dates. This coming from a girl who shaves her bush, as so many females my age do. It’s sad, and gives guys some very fucking messed up ideas about how our bodies should be. The point is, she was not really the right person to talk about “natural”. So, I tried to forget the incident. Why do I care, her beliefs aren’t affecting mine.

We continued to be friends, and one day she was complaining about a boy not asking her to a dance. I just told her to ask him herself. “Wow Bryn, I’m not like, a feminist lesbo loser. ” I was speechless. I still am. But I was able to pull some courage out of my belt, and said “Well I am.” Never mind the pathetic cliche she attempted to use (which I always think is some sort of fucked up defense mechanism to save themselves from the truth). The real issue is, how are you not a feminist? I am the only teenage girl I know who identifies as a proud feminist. Everyone else runs the opposite direction from that word. If you believe you should get to vote, you’re a feminist, if you believe you should get the same pay as a man, you are a feminist. I don’t see how anyone wouldn’t be one, even in the tiniest aspect. The problem is, there are no huge rallies for womens rights (at least where I come from). There was the Slutwalk this summer, but no one my age is informed. In school we have all these assemblies about drunk driving and drugs, but what about rape awareness? So, to all those afraid of the word “feminist”: This is a term of empowerment. Stop running away from it, unless you want your rights to be obsolete. Stop denying-YOU ARE A FEMINIST.