As a society, we tend to depict feminists as liberal bra-burners — an unshaven mob of female warriors, interjecting the word “vagina” into every conversation. Feminists, to many, are intimidating man-haters who throw around phrases like “man’s world” and “objectification.” These are women who say females are the victims in society, that chivalry is dead (or misogynistic) and that men are the scourge of a world, which should be dominated by strong, independent women.

When we hear the word feminism today, the image of a curly-haired woman, clad in a red bandana and blue work shirt comes to mind. The woman is raising a fist to the world. “We can do it,” she says.

But… do what?

Rosie the Riveter is not a symbol for going braless or man-hating or lesbianism. She was an image used to empower women to embrace their rights as human beings — to get up and do what they could during a war effort, alongside men. “We can do it,” she says. We can achieve, just like men. Because we are equal.

That’s what feminism is.

Being a feminist means believing one thing: that women are unequivocally equal to men, in both rights and status as human beings.

But in our culture, we have come to equate the term “feminist” with some kind of disparaging slam on a person’s character. According to a recent study by CNN, a majority of American women have a positive view of the American women’s movement for equal rights. Almost 70 percent say their lives have been made significantly better because of improved access to better jobs, education, and equality in the way of rights, like voting and equal pay.

This is much higher than the 48 percent of women who supported it in 1999 — and the mere 25 percent in 1983.

The difference is that, while “feminism” is the name of this movement for women’s equality, only 25 percent of women surveyed considered themselves feminists. However, when a definition of “feminist” is offered alongside the question (i.e. “someone who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes”), 65 percent of women happily accept the label.

More than 17 percent of women, according to the poll, consider the word “feminist” to be an insult. Why? Because throughout the years, feminism has earned a bad reputation — propagated by politicians, pop culture and members of the media.

Sure, some women do hate men. But these aren’t feminists; these are misandrists. And though the anti-male message has been circulating for years, nowhere in the definition of feminism does it say all men are evil, rapist oppressors who should be treated with hostility.

That’s not the goal of feminism. The goal is that men and women receive the same rights — and are treated equally under the law.

Feminists are often considered to be sensationalist, distracting from the real issues by raising irrational concerns and demanding radical change. “Feminazis,” a term coined by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, describes women who take their “feminist agenda” so far that they won’t stop until they ensure there are “as many abortions as possible.”

Not only is that a lewd and ridiculous claim (and sensationalist, in itself), it actually serves to stigmatize feminism, a belief that should be embedded at the core of every American.

As a society, we have generated for ourselves an image of feminism — and the feminist — that is inherently false; we are distracted by the talking heads who argue that feminism is nothing more than man-hating and that all of the problems of the world are a result of preference toward the male gender.

Sarcasm and passionate battle cries from all sides are enough to cloud the definition of feminism. But we cannot allow ourselves to forget that feminism is just a word, a word representing an idea which should resonate with every American:

Equality.