Like Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, I admit that I was not a fan of the idea of feminism. I did want equal rights and opportunities for women, and I hoped for a society where women could be judged less for simply being themselves, however the term seemed so defiant.

“Feminist” was a term for those women who marched in protest over the fact that they were stared at simply for walking down the street, or held angry talks on the discouragement given to women for using (or not using) their sexuality in the the correct way. Yet after my second time viewing the TED talk on why “we should all be feminists”, I feel I’m beginning to understand the term better.

I appreciate the ease of the speaker, and how she admits to still learning about feminism and a woman’s place in the world. However, in my opinion the reason why it is important to listen is the fact that the term feminist isn’t just about women. Perceptions and ideas about gender begin from what we are told as children, and as we choose to believe these ideologies we shut out any notion that there may be more than one standard, or more than one correct way to think about somebody or something. And because there is more than one answer to the question “why treat women any differently than men?”, modern feminism should explore the possibilities and use them to further not only education, but acceptance and understanding as well. This is especially true for people like me, who agree but in what they are still deciding.