Feminism in my Life Roberta Arteni

My confidence is always tested within the first few seconds of revealing that I'm a feminist. Misconceptions of feminism usually surface to repudiate the validity of my stance, and since feminism isn't a common attribute within my age group, I always felt apprehensive to vocalize my beliefs. Today, I use my cognizance to confidently discredit these statements by asserting feminism is the belief in social, political, and economic equality between the sexes. My growth as a person was caused by an unexpected outcome where I failed to stand up for my beliefs; instead of being haunted by the memory, I took the opportunity to move forward.

One day, towards the end of sophomore year, I was in the middle of lunch when one of my friends tapped me and asked, "What is Meninism?" I turned to find a group of boys, all wearing matching shirts with this phrase. All at once, feelings washed over me battling to take over. When I made the decision to openly support feminism my extended family bludgeoned me with questions and belittled my answers, I soon gave up and nodded to what they were saying. At this moment, I felt I was being attacked all over again, and I couldn't take the back seat any longer. I stormed off to the guidance office,...