I have noticed recently that a lot of the "Trending" articles on Odyssey have to do with feminism. I've seen them flooding my timeline on Facebook: I Am A Female And I Am So Over Feminists has generated over 1.5 million shares since May 2016, while To The Women Who Hate Feminism has been shared 18.5 thousand times since January 9.

Let me get this straight. Feminism (to me and many others, at least) is not wanting to be better than men or "liberals pouting because they didn't get their way." The definition of feminism according to Merriam-Webster is "the theory of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes," and personally, I am all for that. You will never be able to convince me that a woman doesn't deserve the same pay as a man for doing the same job or that our voices on social and political issues shouldn't be heard just as loud.

And, no. Contrary to all of the posts I've seen on Facebook along the lines of, "I'm a smart enough woman to know that I'm already equal," I can confirm to you first hand that I am not seen as equal to the average man. I have been talked down to, asked if I'm in school to get my "MRS" degree, treated like I'm dumb, and told to "get back in the kitchen," way too many times, all because of my gender. That may be ok with you, but it is nowhere near ok with me.

In I Am Not A Feminist, And That Is Okay, Amanda Sankey states that men should be leaders of the house, and goes on to say that she doesn't understand why a woman would ever want to take on that responsibility. In my future marriage, I hope we work as a team. I do believe that the man should lead certain parts of the home and family, but the woman should lead others, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Also, I believe (contrary to Amanda) you can still take your husband's name, be a stay at home mom, love cooking and cleaning, and be a nurturer, all while being a feminist. I see absolutely no correlation between being a good wife and mom and believing in gender equality.

I believe that women are powerful and deserving of every single opportunity out there. One day, I hope to teach my own daughter that she can achieve anything she works for and that being a #girlboss is something to be proud of.

Lastly, I am so thankful for the feminists that came before me who fought hard for my rights: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Alice Paul, just to name a few. They broke down barriers and gave me a better life because of their courage to stand up and fight for what's right, and feminists today are doing the same.

"Here's to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them."-Unknown