When did “feminism” become a dirty word? When were man-haters and equality-seekers grouped into one seriously misunderstood category? Unfortunately, what mankind does not understand, mankind condemns. Famous examples include evolution, Crocs, and Jesus Christ. Two out of three times, mankind is simply wrong. Ignorance is bliss, unless it’s your truth that’s being ignored. For women, our truth encompasses health, equal rights, and basic human respect. And it’s been avoided long enough.

Words have power, but so does perception. Today’s society sees feminists as women who hate men and blame them for all of their problems. However, like in all groups or belief systems, there are extremists and radicals. Too often, humanity chooses to take one person or belief and turn it into a blanket statement about all those involved. It would be an unforgivable sin to group together the “Osama Bin Ladens” with the “Malala Yousafzais” of the world. One is a terrorist, while the other is an activist for women’s  education, but the only thing a lot of people see is “Muslim.” Similarly, it would be a crime to ignore women such as Gloria Steinem, Emma Watson and Hillary Clinton just because they associate themselves with eight small letters. For those in the back that couldn’t hear, it is a lie that every feminist hates men.  Like all disadvantaged groups, there are issues to be discussed and rights to be fought for. But isn’t that the core principal of American democracy? To fight for one’s natural rights?

Obviously, people experience oppression and ignorance in different ways. A white woman may fall victim to being told “you run like a girl,” while an Asian woman can be stigmatized as submissive. The bottom line is, every female, no matter her ethnicity or socioeconomic status, is afraid of sexual assault, lack of medical services and not being taken seriously in her field. Society teaches girls about what not to wear, self-defense and the dangers of being alone at night. Meanwhile, not even half of that effort is put into educating men on respecting women and their bodies.

Not all men are predators. However, all women are afraid of being prey. If a group of people is worried about their health, safety, education, and socioeconomic status as a direct result of another population, doesn’t that mean that the scales aren’t exactly equal?

So why does the word “feminism” pose such a threat? The answer is simple: lack of communication. There are so many stigmas and preconceived notions about the word that once the f-bomb drops, everyone hits the deck. The world would be so much safer if it weren’t afraid of one word. Words have power—it’s true. But that’s all the more reason to use and exchange them between unlike-minded parties. The only way human beings learn is by exchanging knowledge and perspectives.

They say women are from Venus and men are from Mars, but we all live on planet Earth. Let’s stop ignoring and denying what our neighbors have to say.