The Who Needs Feminism campaign has made its way to Iowa State, and it is here to stay.

The campaign was started in 2012 at Duke University by 16 students in Professor Rachel Seidman’s course Women in the Public Sphere.

The Margaret Sloss Women’s Center has been participating in the Who Needs Feminism Campaign for nearly three years.

The campaign was brought to Iowa State shortly after coming into existence by graduate students at the Women’s Center.

The campaign features participants writing why they need feminism and taking a photo of themselves and their statement. The photo is then posted on social media.

By publicly stating why they need feminism, people have the ability to promote the movement in a passive yet positive manner. The goal of the campaign is to debunk any misconceptions or stereotypes of feminism and promote the movement in a positive manner.

Ashley Maitland, graduate assistant at the Women’s Center, said it’s not just about promoting feminism, but it’s also about understanding it.

“People on campus or within the community can express what feminism means, and that can mean very different and personal things for everyone,” Maitland said. “It’s more about hearing individual voices about [what] their personal feminisms are.”

Sindhuja Ram, senior in advertising, believes that feminism is necessary and that it shouldn’t be seen as a negative movement.

“I think women try to avoid being identified as feminist because it’s always had negative connotations in the past,” Ram said. “But it’s 2014, and you’re not supposed to be submissive about common human rights.”

One popular myth about feminism is that it is only meant for women. Maitland says that is not true, and the campaign works to fix that stereotype.

“We’ve had many identities involved with this,” Maitland said. “There have been male-identified people who have participated with our campaign, as well as a lot of different social identities.”

The Women’s Center does not promote the campaign but rather gives it an undemanding presence on campus.

“We won’t have a program dedicated to it,” Maitland said. “It’s just more passively involved in everything that we do here.”

Maitland says that the Women’s Center hopes to have a stricter organization of the campaign on campus in order to better reach others.

Iowa State’s involvement so far has been small, but the results have been encouraging.

William Huskisson, sophomore in industrial design, sees the campaign as a positive one.

“I think it should be moved forward,” Huskisson said. “If women feel pressure by men’s standards then that should end.”

However, Huskisson says he has not been well-informed on the issue.

Ram said she believed there should be more widespread promotion on the campaign to better inform people.

“I think if you educate rather than preach at people, it would get a positive result,” Ram said. “Especially on college campuses, since it’s the prime spot to get women involved before they venture out into the world.”

Maitland hopes that there will be a greater involvement by the student body in years to follow and encourages people to reach out.

“This campaign is open for anyone who wants to have their voice be heard,” Maitland said.

Students can participate in the campaign by going to the Women’s Center or by signing up on its website.