From Emma Watson to Laci Green, you just need to do a quick google to find that feminism is beginning to hit the forefront of media. It doesn’t take very long before you realise that when there is an incredible, amazing philosophy such as feminism, there has to be an equally atrocious and disgusting enemy acting out Newton’s Third Law. These anti-feminists come in a variety of different forms on the wonder that is the internet, but what is scarier than this, is that you need not look any further than your local pub, school or any social area, to find people equally as intimidating and vocal about their misogynistic views.

As a woman who has surrounded herself with inspirational women and girls, it seems only right that I am a feminist. It would seem that as a university student, and someone who works in a bar and experiences sexual harassment and misogynistic views first hand, that it is only right that I am a feminist. Furthermore, when I see things like Dapper Laughs: On the Pull gracing my television, and hear about pick-up artists such as Julien Blanc trying to give seminars on how to abuse women, it seems only right that I am a third-wave feminist.

But there was a time when I didn’t self-identify as a feminist. I accepted society’s view that men were supposed to act tough and manly and women weren’t supposed to have sexual feelings. I accepted that as a girl who lost

her cherry/ precious gift/ virginity quite early, that I was merely damaged goods. Because that’s how I, and many other girls are raised to be. We are told to be coquettish, and flirty — but

prim and proper at the same time, causing a psychosis of whirling cognitive dissonance, resolving — in my case, as self-hatred and jealousy of other women. I’m sure that many other girls probably experienced the same.

Then something amazing happened. I met Ellen, an incredible, Doc Martin wearing and patriarchy fighting babe. She called me out on why I was wrong, and that I had a right to my body, I had a right to be sexually liberated, and I had a right to wear what I want and be who I want with no restrictions due to gender or sexuality. I’ll never be able to thank her enough from freeing me of self hatred. With her help, my eyes were opened to the inequalities between men and women and also, the simple fact that gender didn’t merely sit on a binary level. That there are so many beautiful, amazing people who had so many different gender expressions that deserve to be celebrated.

With that in mind, I strived to educate myself about feminism as much as I could, learning about the struggles that women of colour face, that transgender people face, that gender-fluid people face and many other important and diverse strands of third wave feminism. I found that this wave of feminism had many incredible writers and journalists, along with many fantastic supporters and marvellous bloggers. Women and men who show such a high amount of compassion for their brothers and sisters and all the in between, and that genuinely want to make the world a better place. There are so many different platforms of people speaking out against issues such as misogyny, not just the two I mentioned in the first paragraph. There is a beautiful world out there full of literature, slam poetry, artwork, protests, vigils, movements and more dedicated to helping the cause.

Many read stories of rape, sexual assault and domestic abuse. Many also reason stories of Female Genital Mutilation, ‘Corrective Rape’ and hyper-masculinity. But they don’t seem to understand that the way to solve these

problems is to bind together and protest against these atrocities and inequalities. However, the number of people beginning to join feminist ideals are rising. Companies are pushed.

Governments are beginning to be pressured. Laws are being rewritten. Just now I read that the first conviction has been made in relation to ‘Revenge Porn’. This conviction celebrates the successes of feminists everywhere who have worked to push this legislation through to protect women (and men) from being emotionally blackmailed, humilated and targeted by past lovers and people they trusted with nude photographs. We see more and more people defending celebrities and other women who make the choice to take nude photographs and share their incredible bodies with the world. More people than ever have had their eyes opened to acts of everyday sexism (thanks to inspirational women like Laura Bates) and internalised misogyny that need to be stopped.

Nothing makes me prouder than being a feminist and what that entails. Third wave feminism is something that people should be joining, because it is beautiful, it is strong and it is full of compassion and love. Maybe people do see me as a ‘psycho feminist’, but I would rather care too much for this world, than not care at all.