It simply amazes me to think that there are young girls and even women who do not promote feminism. Women, and men, all should support the social, economic, and political equality of women.

Right now, if a girl was to go on into the same career as the boy who sits next to her in class, he would receive a higher wage than her. In Texas, a woman who holds a full-time job is paid, on average, $35,453 per year while a man who works a full-time job is paid $44,802.

Feminists do not believe women are better than men, or that women deserve special privileges. They do not believe that women are victims. To be a feminist you just have to agree with one idea: All people, male and female, should have equal rights.

Women hold less than 20 percent of the seats in congress, but hold more than half of the population. Some think that patriarchal system doesn’t exist because we have equal employment opportunities, but if that were true, why is there still a 23 percent pay gap?

Young girls need feminism because when women are assaulted, they are usually the ones who feel ashamed. We need feminism because we teach girls how to prevent rape, instead of teaching people to not view women as objects.

Being a feminist does not mean you think women can’t speak for themselves, it means you realize that, even though the women around you may be lucky enough to, there’s still many who can’t.

Young girls need feminism because even though we are underage we are still sexualized. There are rules against the clothing we can wear in schools so girls don’t distract the boys. We need feminism because we teach girls they are a problem. We need feminism because we teach girls that their education is not as important as a boy’s.

Feminism is not a gender issue, it’s a humanity issue.