I was recently told that I should consider myself a humanist rather than a feminist because humanism desires equality for all.

Let’s be clear: feminism and humanism are not mutually exclusive and the goals of feminism have not been met.

Still, I choose to define myself as a feminist rather than a humanist, despite agreeing with humanism conceptually. The reason is because feminism is fighting a construct that keeps women from succeeding in their lives in the ways men do.

Humanism, in contrast to feminism, suggests that women have already reached equality with men. If we started paying men less for the same job done by a woman, taught men to hate themselves and their bodies and told men how to choose their course of health care through law—because they are not capable of making moral decisions themselves. If this were the case I would be a humanist, fighting for the rights of men every day, but this isn’t the case.

Our CEOs and our world leaders are mostly men.

Women are not treated equally.

Feminism is still important and the attempt to discredit it as if it puts men down, is wrong.

Feminism is not a dirty word.

The following video is graphic and contains nudity and violence yet it is an accurate representation of what women all over the world are still experiencing. It portrays the sexism that women still battle, with a twist: it is a man’s experience of life, living in a woman’s world.

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Editorial Assistant: Lauryn DeGrado/Editor: Bryonie Wise

Photos: Flickr