Feminism. Are you still reading? Sadly, many people, including women, distance themselves from this topic. We are often asked why feminism is important today considering women now have the right to vote, to attend college and can run for president. But when a woman runs for president, the news media worries more about her clothing than her politics. Women have to have money and a quality preparatory education to get into college, and many women do not have access to these things.

The following examples are reasons why we believe feminism is something every person should fight for. There are a myriad of other reasons, and we acknowledge that we are coming from a privileged race and class being white women in higher education. Women of color, low income women and women with different physical abilities have different experiences. But we all benefit from feminism.

Contrary to popular belief, women do not have equal rights. The Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA, was never added to our country’s constitution. Women want and need equal opportunity in the workplace, in education and in government. The lack of equity is evident when one looks at the pay gap; once we’re earning a salary — not our minimum wage on-campus pay rate — we still earn only 80 cents to every dollar a man earns for the same job when we have the same qualifications.

Feminism is necessary because we are still objectified by our body parts. Our breasts are ogled; we are told we need surgery if they aren’t big or set high enough. Our uteruses are blamed for making us too emotional — “you must be ragging, you’re so moody!”

There is an abundance of misogynistic men at Iowa State; women encounter them every weekend. It is not uncommon to be approached, ogled, then told something along the lines of “nice legs, keep up the good work.” Women and men alike need to recognize this behavior as unacceptable. We are not flattered by inappropriate compliments based on our physical characteristics coming from strangers; it is not a compliment to know you are unable to see my worth as a human being, but rather a sexual object.

Violence is still perpetrated against women. They are often blamed for wearing skirts too short or clothing that is too revealing. Sexual assault between acquaintances “doesn’t happen” because a woman owes her partner sex after a big date. Feminism is absolutely necessary until violence is no longer perpetrated against women.

Women often put down other women. We call each other sluts, whores, bitches and bimbos. We judge our fellow women’s sex lives and intelligence level. We are taught to degrade a sexually liberated woman, belittle a woman’s clothing choices when we like it better than our own, consider a successful career-oriented woman cold and ruthless, and criticize every body type for one reason or another.

It is not uncommon for people to look at my breasts instead of my face. Women are not being taken seriously when we can’t talk to a professor or fellow student without that glance down — yeah, we actually do notice it.

Women are continually asked to choose between their careers and raising a family. When women do have jobs outside of the home, they are criticized for not playing a bigger role in raising their children. Succeeding inside and outside of the home are considered mutually exclusive ideas. In a sexist society, men are not allowed the opportunity to stay at home with their children — sexism hurts men too.

We see that not all women have benefitted equally from the work of our feminist foremothers. Feminist movements thus far have focused on the benefit of the white, middle class, heterosexual woman to the greatest extent. Progress is needed for all women; especially those oppressed by other factors in addition to sexism.

Language is still male-centric. For example, when we write our papers, all word processors recognize the word congressman; however, the word congresspeople is only recognized by Google.

It is obvious that feminism is necessary when one looks at the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. There is a pill to help elderly men have sex, but not a pill to enhance the pleasure of women. Hysterectomies, the removal of female reproductive organs, are advised way more than orchiectomies, the removal of the testicles. Word recognizes the word hysterectomy but not orchiectomy.

Feminism is for everyone. As women, we have made progress. As mentioned, we can vote, we can go to college and we can run for president — all rights we were once denied. However, we have a long way to go. We don’t have equal rights under the constitution, we earn less for the same work, we are objectified for our bodies, and it is not considered socially acceptable for a man to stay home with his children. All men and women stand to gain from an encompassing feminist movement; there is still a definite need for feminism as well as rights to still be gained, even in 2011.