If you're not a feminist, you're not paying attention.

Let me first start off by giving you a brief description of myself: I'm an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I wholeheartedly agree with and support all church doctrine regarding the priesthood and families.  My biggest dream is to one day be a stay-at-home mom.   I shave my armpits and wear deodorant and a bra on a daily basis.  I wear high heels and pencil skirts because I like the way I look in them, even though they aren't the most comfortable thing in the world.  I like getting dolled up but don't wear a lot of makeup most of the time because I'm not willing to put in the effort most girls are - not because I'm trying to make a statement. I like it when guys open doors for me and pay for dinner.  When I have car problems I always call a man to come help me out because I feel like in general they're naturally a little more gifted in that area. 

Oh, and I'm a feminist.

As I was scrolling through Facebook a few minutes ago, I saw that a friend had shared an article about Emma Watson's United Nation speech 

Here's the speech for those of you who haven't had a chance to listen to it yet: 

as I smiled at this wonderful message that is going viral I glanced at the comments.   Here's what the first comment said:

"Pshhh... I'm sure she's been treated so unfairly in her life, making millions of dollars, being accepted into Brown university due to her fame, etc... What on earth does she have to complain about when it comes to gender inequality? Don't get me wrong, I love Emma Watson, but this is kind of silly. I feel there are much greater issues in our society than gender inequality." (emphasis added)

I had to read the comment through twice more because I was so shocked at what I was seeing.  I hoped I was missing some sort of strange sarcasm in that last line, but sadly I was not.  This was someone's actual reaction to Miss Watson's speech.

FIRST OF ALL.... Saying Emma Watson doesn't have a right to make that speech because she's not a huge victim of gender inequality is like saying that you can't start a foundation to cure leukemia unless you've actually had cancer.  It's like saying that you can't fight against poverty unless you come from a third world country.  It's ABSOLUTELY ridiculous and he obviously had not listened to the speech before posting his comment.

MORE IMPORTANTLY....This man was clearly ignorant and didn't actually know much about what the feminist movement is and how it effects the world.  Don't worry - I enlightened him.  (My sassy pants were definitely on while I typed my reply.)

For those of you stuck in the same boat as this man, let me give you just a small handful of facts to help you see why gender equality has an effect on almost every major issue in the world today (I'm going to leave out a lot of the first world problems - because I've already delved into some of those issues here, and I don't want this post to be so long that it takes a half hour to read.): 

- 9 of every 10 rape victims is a woman. 

-There are still many countries where women do not have a right to wear what they choose, and decisions regarding their bodies are not their own. Women don't even have a right to vote in these countries to change that. 

-If we don't change something, within this decade there will be 142 million child brides. "The World Health Organization reports that pregnancy complications remain the leading cause of death among girls aged fifteen to nineteen in low- and middle-income countries, and those girls are twice as likely to die in childbirth as are mothers aged twenty and older. Babies born to adolescent or child mothers are more likely to die than those born to mothers over age twenty. They tend to have lower birth weights and weak immune systems, and face higher risks of malnutrition. In areas with high infection rates, early marriage makes girls more vulnerable to HIV." (That all comes from the Council of Foreign Relations website you might want to take a gander at.) 

-An estimated 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year, and it is estimated that women and girls make up 98% of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. 

So for those of you who are against feminism and agree with the commenter above.... please, tell me how those are not gender inequality issues - or if you'd rather - explain why those aren't some of the "greater issues" in society today. 

Want to read more?  Go to http://www.cfr.org/peace-conflict-and-human-rights/child-marriage/p32096#!/?cid=otr_marketing_use-child_marriage_Infoguide#!%2F or http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20140613062045301 to learn about how educating and empowering women can change all of these statistics.