As an adult woman, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to pinpoint the moment I first realized I was living in a world built for men. As a kid, even between the ages of three and five, I remember my parents fully supporting me, telling me I could achieve anything I wanted. Back then, I didn’t see myself as much different from the boys around me, aside from the obvious physical differences and a few varying interests.

But as I sifted through old memories, flipping through photo albums and watching grainy VHS recordings, I started to notice the signs. The clues had always been there, subtle but constant reminders that my experience in life would be fundamentally different from that of my male peers.

Like the time when four- or five-year-old me wanted to play Pokémon—such a silly, innocent thing, really, but one that hinted at something bigger. I didn’t have any cards, so the boys each handed me their worst ones—just enough to let me join in, but never to actually win. Or how I was told that girls mature faster than boys, so I always had to be “the bigger person.” And how the parents at school seemed obsessed with the idea of first graders having “crushes,” as if every boy-girl interaction had to mean something.

I never questioned these things as a child. It wasn’t until I first heard the word feminism at ten years old—alongside terms like women’s rights and gender discrimination—that I started to understand. Well, maybe not the full scope of how much it would affect me, but I did understand that I would have to stand up for myself and support other women in doing the same. And I try to do that now.

Despite its significance, feminism remains misunderstood or outright rejected by many.

According to the dictionary, feminism is “the belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes, expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”

You’d think that striving for equality would be widely supported, yet a recent Ipsos survey found that only 39% of respondents from 31 high- and upper-middle-income countries identified as feminists. Meanwhile, an average of 51% disagreed with this label.

I’d say the current state of feminism can be summed up in just a few other statistics (though I could easily make a several-page-long list). 

For instance, 81% of women report experiencing some form of sexual harassment or assault in their lifetime. Or consider the gender pay gap—it has hardly improved over the years. In 2002, women in the U.S. earned an average of 80% of what men made, and today, that number has only crept up to 82%, according to the Pew Research Center.

Women of color, however, face even greater disparities. Black women in the U.S. have the highest maternal mortality rate, with 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021—nearly three times the rate for white women, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And as if that weren’t enough, global headlines continue to show just how far we are from true equality. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has banned women from speaking in public. In Iran, authorities are cracking down on women who refuse to wear hijabs, punishing them for something as simple as exposing their forearms or lower legs. If anything, feminism is a matter of survival.

Bored Panda spoke with Nyomi Winter, a project officer, blogger, and mother who is vocal about feminism, to explore why the movement remains essential for women today.

“At the most basic level, feminism is so important to me because women and girls deserve equal rights and opportunities just as much as boys and men, yet that has still not been fully achieved in modern society,” she tells us. “This means not only are girls and women missing out, but society as a whole is losing out on their talent and the progress that could be achieved by maximizing that.”

For Nyomi, patriarchy is harmful to everyone. “It’s damaging to girls and women who are missing out on equal rights and opportunities and are experiencing violence and abuse,” she explains. “But it’s also damaging to men and boys, who may feel unable to express their emotions, leading to violent behavior and higher suicide rates.”

One of Nyomi’s biggest concerns is the increasing threat of male violence against women.

“I would like to see more done to address male violence towards women and girls because it feels like this has gotten worse lately, not better,” she says. “Why are misogynist narratives from ‘men’s rights’ influencers such as Andrew Tate resonating so strongly with young boys? How do we combat that?”

As a mother, these issues feel deeply personal. “I have a daughter and a son. One of my biggest fears for my daughter is that she will experience violent abuse because of these narratives. One of my biggest fears for my son is that he could be influenced by misogynistic ideas and end up perpetuating harm to women.”

Nyomi also stresses the need for feminism to be more intersectional, particularly in addressing racial disparities in healthcare. “I would like to see much more done about racism in health services, particularly why black women are experiencing worse birth outcomes and are more likely to die in childbirth,” she says.

To her, women’s rights are more at risk now than ever before.

“There is so much evidence that gender equality has not been achieved in the Western world. Male violence against women and girls is increasing, the gender pay gap still exists, and parity is not expected to be achieved in my daughter’s working life—let alone my own!” Nyomi says. “You only have to look at what’s happening with women’s abortion rights in America to see that gender equality in some areas is actually regressing.”

“As a feminist, I never expected to see us actually lose rights we had already won in previous waves of feminism. It just shows why feminism is so important and how we can never rest on our laurels.”