10 reasons why I need feminism

**Trigger Warning : this article contains discussions of sexual assault, which may be triggering for some readers**

1. I need feminism because I need an ideological foundation of respect toward myself and  others around me.  Self-respect and self- worth doesn’t come innately, unfortunately.

2. I need feminism because I used to think it was okay to love someone who called you fat and compared you to a ‘white whale’.

3. I need feminism because I used to date men, who would spend an entire weekend with me and then say “I have got to go now; I have a date with another girl in the city”.

4. I need feminism because the only things my friends could say to that was “Well at least he was honest”.

5. I need feminism because I used to think body hair on females was unnatural and disgusting.

6. I need feminism because I continued to kiss boys who made a move on my best friend on our second date, in front of me.

7. I need feminism because I didn’t know it was sexual assault when a boy came into my room, after I had passed out and I got too drunk at a party when I was 16.

8. I need feminism because no one told me until two years later that he was sober. No one ever said to him “you shouldn’t rape” but a lot of people said to me “you shouldn’t have gotten that drunk”.

9. I need feminism to keep my misandry tendencies in check, feminism gives me perspective that there are men out there who respect you and do not view you as disposable. If it weren’t for feminism I would probably be a close minded, man hating person.

10. I need feminism because I want to respect the choices and decisions that my friends and family make about their bodies, careers and future partners.

I need feminism because it sets a bench-mark for the exciting challenges that men and women must work together for to ensure other young people, like me, don’t have to accept that they’re worthless up until they reached their twenties.

That’s why I need feminism.

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