As a privileged, well-educated, heterosexual white female, I would say my life is pretty good. I have doors open to me and can go through life with plenty of opportunities and expectations of success.  But just because I have a cushy life does not mean that I don’t need feminism, because I do. Even though I go to an all-girls school and have been raised by two parents who are proud feminists, have been pushed to excellence and told that I could succeed in anything I can put my mind to, sexism is still something that is a huge problem in the world today. It exists in our everyday lives, whether it be global, national, citywide, or even on a personal level. It is something that is ingrained in our minds. These are just a few of the reasons why I need feminism.

1. 250 million girls live in destitution. Out of the 774 million people who are illiterate, 2/3 are female. Nearly 77.6 million girls did not return to school after last year. When girls are educated, their children are twice as likely to survive after the age of 5, and when just 10 percent more girls go to school in one year a country’s overall gross domestic product can increase by 3 percent.
2. HIV, AIDS and immature pregnancy in Africa alone contributes to at least half of maternal deaths, due to the lack of nutrition and medical help. In India, nearly 70 percent of the female population lacks access to sanitary products.
3. Child marriage is a huge problem in Sub-Saharan Africa; 1 in 8 girls are married or in a union before they are 15, and in Latin America, 24 percent of adult women were married in childhood. Child marriage takes away a girl’s chance of education, a successful job or a chance to lift themselves out of poverty.
4. Women lack in powerful positions and are grossly underrepresented in political decisions around the world. We only hold 15 percent of CEO positions. In the United States government, only 24 percent of employees are women, even though women make up 50.4% of the population. The government is making decisions that affect the entire country, so I think it is about time that our leaders represent all of the United States, not just white men. For all of human history, rich men have been making the decisions for the rest of the population. I think it is time that we start electing more women and minorities into our government and encourage more young girls to excel in leadership.
5. As a country, we have decided that instead of electing the most qualified person in the United States government to be our next president, instead, we’ll have a racist, sexist, misogynistic, xenophobic man who we allow to make horrible, objectifying comments about women constantly. I understand if you don’t agree with Hillary Clinton’s political views or even personal views, but how is it okay to elect someone that has said extremely horrific things about models who are under his employment and watch? He has made sexual comments about his own daughter and has been accused of at least 7 cases of sexual assault. Honestly America, his actions and words are extremely unacceptable, so how did we allow for this man to be our next president?
6. St. Teresa’s Academy is constantly being called a “day care”. You might say it as a joke, but it is harmful and hurtful. This nickname is denying St. Teresa’s validity as a school for successful women, where we go to work hard and spend hours on homework every night. So what if we like to have fun sometimes? We are mature enough to spend our free periods and activity periods how we like, and as long as we get our work done on time, it doesn’t matter when we do it.

Sources:

Girls’ education and gender equality. (2015, July 23). Retrieved November 29, 2016, from https://www.unicef.org/education/bege_70640.html

Population, female (% of total). (2016). Retrieved November 29, 16, from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL.FE.ZS