The feminist club, She-Hawks, have always tried to promote gender equality by raising the conversation within our school. We all only really know them from their wage gap bake sales, where certain people pay more than others, so some seem to write them off with certain stereotypes.

In order to truly understand what this club represents, we must all be able to set aside the common misconceptions about feminists.

“Feminism means empowerment to me,” senior She-Hawk member Rianna Mukherjee said. “I think feminism is about allowing women and other people express themselves and have the same opportunities.”

Many confuse feminism with the concept of misandry, which is the dislike of all men. However, that couldn’t be farther from what She-Hawks is about.

Even not being a member of this club, I can tell it is filled with people who truly care about spreading awareness about unequal opportunity for all genders. I feel that the club often gets looked down upon because of the misconceptions and negative perceptions some people have about what feminism is.

“There are a lot of men at this school who are tolerant and want to see women succeed and be empowered,” senior She-Hawk Joe Gordon said. “[These students] aren’t exactly sure how to label themselves without seeming like they’re a feminist and they agree with everything; they just might agree with bits and pieces [of what feminism is about].”

It’s important to realize that true feminists want all genders and races to be seen as equals. There are many people who call themselves feminists, but only want to prove it by putting themselves on a pedestal and trying to show that they are better than men. Then there are the men who put down feminists by saying they only want to hurt the image of men. That is why there are so many stereotypes that show feminists as angry or irrational.

In the past, She-Hawk members have tried to show their peers a certain issue that still needs attention today through their infamous wage gap bake sale. They had males pay one dollar while women and minorities only had to pay seventy-five cents for the same baked good. This was used to represent gender inequality in the workplace.

This approach upset some students because they thought it was unfair and discriminatory. They’re right. It is unfair how there is a difference in pay because of gender. It is unfair that women only make a fraction of a man’s dollar.

While the point of the bake sale may have been missed due to the anger that students experienced, it was meant to showcase how unjust the inequality is, because the majority of those complaining were the ones who will benefit from a higher pay than a woman doing the same job.

“[Some students] associate people in She-Hawks with our wage gap bake sale and they think we are angry,” Mukherjee said. “They have certain stereotypes that they use to describe people in She-Hawks so I think people have the wrong idea.”

A big problem today is that some people don’t respect feminists because they only believe in the misconceptions they were told and don’t take it upon themselves to learn more about feminism as a concept.

Feminism is about complete equality of all genders. No one needs to believe in every aspect of feminism, but they should respect others who do.