In a recent class of mine, our professor asked us who considered themselves a feminist. Very few men, if any, raised their hands. As a matter of fact, very few people in general raised their hands – men or women.

Feminism is mostly known by the public as women burning bras or attempting a coup to seize power from men. Feminism is the movement by women who hate men and want to castrate them, right? Isn’t that what feminism is about?

Not only are there misconceptions, but many people think gender inequality has disappeared. After women’s suffrage succeeded, many people thought that since women had won the right to vote that equality had finally been achieved. Man, were we wrong.

At Iowa State, barely 45 percent of the student population are women. Men have had a strong hold on the engineering college since engineering has been historically a major for men. Iowa State, being an agricultural college as well, has helped keep the male population in front of the women.

The number of women in engineering is actually dropping; programs like Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) are excellent programs for female mentoring engineers, but without women enrolling at Iowa State, we can’t mentor them.

Attitudes starting in high school help prepare women for other disciplines such as education or home economics, rather than engineering or other “manly” fields.

Seems strange. If you look at the real reasons, you won’t find it strange at all.

A recent New York Times article argued that while many women are attending Ivy League schools, they are destined to be raising children in the home.

Attitudes like that are what are helping keep women down in our society. Iowa State is just a small manifestation of the larger problem of gender inequality.

Feminism works to combat such attitudes. Feminism is a social, political and economic theory that furthers women’s rights. It asks relevant questions such as why do women, while being 51 percent of the world’s population, earn only 10 percent of the world’s income and own only 1 percent of the world’s wealth?

Here at Iowa State, feminism takes on another face entirely. The Margaret Sloss House has been working furiously for gender equality. The Women’s Center on campus has programs advocating women’s rights in society, and also gender equality. The Women’s Center isn’t just about women: the Women’s Center also has programs for men.

So men, why should you be a feminist? That is a very good question. Is it because women make up 51 percent of the world’s population, yet own only 1 percent of the world’s wealth, or is it because women haven’t made it to the highest positions in our country? Maybe we should be feminists because for every $1 we make, women make 76 cents.

Surprisingly enough, one the most famous critics of feminism is Ann Coulter, a woman. She argued that women are too emotional and shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Voting, she said, needs to be a rational thought process, and women are too emotional to make rational decisions.

Coulter goes beyond her usual antics and argues her point poorly. Women make rational decisions every day, and she made a rational decision to publish outrageous comments like the one mentioned above.

Some like to argue that feminism is for sissies. Women are a large part of that criticism, and some argue that men and women were not created equally. Society proves that by having men in charge of leadership in the family. We aren’t born the same clearly, but we should be given equal opportunities.

Iowa State, this is why you should be a feminist. Men, you owe to the women in your life, not just your girlfriend, or friends, but to the women everywhere, you owe them at the very least, an equal shot.

Feminism doesn’t mean you are a wimp or that you’re weak; feminism means that you’re giving everyone, no matter what gender, an equal shot.

– Ramsey Tesdell is a senior in English from Slater.