Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men. It’s a goal we strive for, but the actual probability of it occurring is extremely small. Boys and girls from a very young age are taught, often unintentionally, that they have to stick to the spectrum of what is socially acceptable for their gender. Boys play with blue trucks and girls play with pink dolls. They learn that gender dictates how they are expected to behave. That lesson ingrained in each of us often shadows our view of gender equality years after childhood playtime has ended.

There’s a lot of pressure that is placed on each gender to accomplish certain major goals throughout the course of their lives. For example, women are expected to have a successful job, though nothing too successful so men aren’t intimidated. They’re expected to find love young and be willing to drop everything, including their career, to chase after the undying dream of a white picket fence, two children and sweet tea on the porch as the sun sets. Once they have children, their job is raising the children. If they don’t find love, they’re damaged goods, either too stupid, ugly or mean to deserve the dear honor of being a man’s wife.

Men, on the other hand, are dealt much different standards. They’re expected to be strong, both emotionally and physically. A single tear is shown as a loss of manhood. They’re expected to have successful careers and chase women in their free time. If a man has a wife and family, it’s seen as a bonus to what he has already succeeded within his life. If a man remains unmarried for all his life, it’s often overlooked and he’s treated and thought of the same, as if he was married.

Those barbaric expectations are just a part of life for each gender; most people accept them, or, unfortunately, apply them to their lives.

The people who stand up to end the inequality between the sexes are known as feminists, a title which has unfortunately gained a negative stigma. Feminism is often associated with loud-mouth women praising the hating of men. It has been contorted from its basic definition of the want for gender equality, into a fight for the supremacy of one gender, the very thing it’s trying to combat. The continuation of gender inequality could be partially due to the shaming of feminists, and the struggle of identifying as one.

“In the media and from what I’ve read, it seems like feminism gets a bad rap,” Senior Breana Petrocelli said. “The more I learn about it, the more I realize that it is actually about gender equality.”

All feminists believe that women aren’t treated as equals to men and are fighting for equality of the genders. There’s the common misconception that all feminists are women, but a large percentage of feminists are actually men. Males face sexism just like women do, though it’s often overlooked.

There are expectations for men, but there is a problem unique to a woman that seems to be becoming more and more significant. Women are stuck in society’s unattainable physical standards, and the only way to escape it is a social movement declaring that objectification and unnecessary sexualization of females is no longer acceptable.

When flipping through a magazine or simply walking down the street, the difference in gender expectations are obvious. Men can be clothed modestly in comfy bulky clothing and still be considered attractive, while society dictates that women have to be dressed more scantily and in tighter-fitting clothing, to be considered appealing. Men face sexism in in magazines and advertisements just as often as women do. Society sets standards of a perfectly chiseled stomach and a big perfectly-white grin.

Jim Crow laws were a set of laws that were enforced in the majority of America’s states from about 1880 to 1965. They supported the segregation of the races and enforced the thought that Caucasians and African Americans should live differently, just because of the difference in skin pigmentation.

Though we’re no longer battling over race, as of 2015, men and women are expected to live different lives based solely off of their reproductive organs. The standards and enforcement of the difference between us may not be enforced nearly as harshly as back then, but the basis of the segregation and gender inequality are equally ridiculous.

As the people who battled racial inequality said, separate is not equal.