Why I Need Feminism

I need feminism because I am a teenage girl becoming a woman in a world that is not safe for me.
I need feminism because in ten years when I have a job, my paycheck will be less than my male coworkers', simply because I am female.
I need feminism because everywhere I go, whether it is school or church or even just out shopping, I am told to cover up much of my skin so I'm "not a distraction."
I need feminism because my parents tell me at least once a week to "never go anywhere by myself" when I'm in college. "Especially not at night."
I need feminism because when I meet a guy, I automatically feel like I cannot trust them. Even if they're nice. Especially if they're nice.
I need feminism because in 225 years of US presidents, every single one of them has been a man, and maybe I'm tired of studying men all the time in my history class, maybe I'm ready to vote for the woman on the ballot even if I don't agree with her views because I am ready to see my gender represented.
But these things only affect me, and I'm not the one who needs feminism the most.
Over 200 girls in Nigeria need feminism because they were taken from their families and their lives while they were at school, trying to get an education so they could secure a safe future for themselves in an unstable country.
Six people in Santa Barbara need feminism because a young man went on a premeditated killing spree over his anger about women. Because he thought he had a right to "have" women.
The 20 percent of the American female population that will, statistically speaking, be a victim of rape at least once in their lifetime need feminism, because too many men don't know what the words "no" and "stop" mean. (Really, do we want these men driving on our roads and highways if they can't understand the word "stop"? That sounds pretty dangerous to me.)
If 20 percent isn't enough for you, consider the fact that that's just in the United States. That it doesn't factor in the number of women who have been stalked, threatened, or harassed.
Colleges offer self-defense classes for women. Self-defense tools and pepper spray come in cute keychain forms. But when are men told simply not to rape? What college offers a class that teaches men how to not rape, teaches men how to stand up for women who are?
I need feminism because this is my world, too.