I consider myself a pretty hardcore feminist. No, I don't hate men, burn my bra, or don't shave. I just believe that women should be treated as equally as men. Yes. You can defend yourself against a woman if she is physically hurting you. But if that is the first thing you think of when someone tells you they're a feminist, then you need to reevaluate the way you think about equality.

Some people have said that they are a humanist and not a feminist, or even acted as if it was the worst thing ever to be a feminist. The reason why I'm a feminist and not a humanist is because we live in a patriarchal society. Men have pretty much all the power; only 2% of women are CEOs of companies and women still make 77 cents to the dollar. Women and young girls are slut shamed and blamed for what happened after they are forced to have sex even if they were drunk or eleven. Women are forced to go through an unwanted pregnancy because men are deciding what women can or cannot do with their own vagina's. My whole point is that mostly women are the ones who are suppressed in this patriarchal society and they are the ones who really need our help.

One of the arguments that I've heard against feminism on YouTube is something along the lines of: "If women want to be as equal as men they should be able to be punched in the face." Of course, it wasn't these exact words but pretty close.... It infuriates me. They hide behind their computers bashing women when they probably have never had a girlfriend.....

Even in movies independent women have a hard time finding a boyfriend or the only way they'll be happy is if they have a husband.

Feminism is very important in today society, for both women and men (yes, men as well.) But I think it's going to take a long, long time until most people realize that.

Miss America 2014 is not a real American?

I personally did not watch any of this years Miss America. All I know is that people were very unhappy..... Miss America is not a real American apparently, even though she was from New York. Why do people claim she is not American? Because her family is from India. There were many racist comments made about her on Twitter and a few people did apologize but many did not seem to care. Even a Fox News radio talk show host tweeted blaming the liberal judges on not voting for Miss Kansas because she "actually represented American values." Many people said that Miss Kansas should have won because she looked like and had the qualities of a true American: She is blonde, white, hunts, is in the military, can pull off camo, and can shoot a gun. But honestly, isn't this what an actual American looks like? If Miss America, Nina Davuluri, isn't a true American then neither is Miss Kansas (AKA Theresa Vail).

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I honestly don't like the competition because it's another way to tell young girls they have to look a certain way to look beautiful. All the women are thin and tall and their faces are caked on with makeup (of course they are on TV and on stage so some is necessary but still). I will admit they look beautiful, but I'd still rather see a plan-faced, average sized Miss. Whatever who isn't flawless compete; it's more realistic and more body-positive. I suppose the one good thing is that they aren't all white and blonde; a little diversity is always good, unless you're "not racist."

On the other hand, "The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women." This is fantastic. On that sight it also says that they have given out $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. This helps out young women who still might feel as if they aren't able to move ahead the same way as young men.We need more of that.

Every second, we are bombarded with advertisements that tell us we need X to help us look better. There are so many products that are advertised to get rid of our wrinkles and make us look young again. Grey hair isn't okay either. All of these types of ads seem to be for women too. It is okay for a man to have a little bit of grey hair. Of course, it's not okay for men to have a full head of grey hair, but they are still able to get away with grey, unlike women.

Young girls start experimenting with makeup at a young age, sometimes while they are even in elementary school. Of course, there is nothing wrong with makeup; it can be a way for a woman to express herself. It becomes a problem when women or girls feel as if it is the only way they feel beautiful. There are beauty gurus on YouTube who do makeup tutorials. Sometimes they do a natural makeup look, which is where they  put on makeup to make it look like they aren't wearing any makeup.... Honestly, it makes no sense to me.She says that she is doing this look so girls don't have to go out of the house without makeup if they don't want to and so they feel more confident. It has a good message, but shouldn't girls feel confident without ANY makeup at all? Many gurus say you should feel comfortable and confident one second but then they are applying makeup the next.

Dove did a commercial that shows a woman sitting down with bright lights all around her, having her hair a makeup done, being photographed, and then the whole photo is altered in Photoshop. The whole point of this ad is to show how fake and misleading advertisements really are.

It's really sad to me how insecure little girls feel and how the media and advertisements really do not help with this insecurity. I hope that, one day, we all will feel comfortable in our own skin.