This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSB chapter.

In truth, feminism is not perfect. It fails to do a lot of things. For one, it often fails to address the intersection of race and sexual orientation with gender. Take for example, the wage gap. In the media, the conversation around the wage gap has centered around the statistic that women make seventy-eight cents to a man’s dollar. This is not necessarily false but it serves to misrepresent the realities of most women of color. White women will earn the aforementioned 78 cents. But of that same dollar, black women will only earn about 64 cents. And Latina women will receive even less than that, at a mere 56 cents. The statistic even misrepresents Asian women, a group that actually makes 80 cents for every dollar.

In other ways, feminism fails to be inclusive. Especially in pop-culture. While I appreciate Emma Watson and her work for HeforShe, it was very disappointing to read an article where she criticized Beyonce’s brand of feminism for music videos depicting her in what Watson called “a very male, such a male voyeuristic experience of her.” I do not deny that objectification is a problem that exists. But shouldn’t Watson consider the idea that women can use sexual imagery to represent female sexual agency? Or the bestseller Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg, which stated that “Fear is at the root of so many barriers that women face. Fear of not being liked. Fear of not being liked.” Rightfully so, many cultural critics pointed out the error in assuming that it is simply fear keeping working-class women from achieving more for themselves and not actual barriers, such as financial issues, rampant sexism in the workplace, or the tendency to get paid and promoted less. Or the feminist inclination in America and Europe, particularly France and Britain, to denounce the hijab as oppressive, excluding a large amount of women from the movement simply because they choose to subscribe to the Islam faith.

And sometimes, feminism is self-contradicting. Recently, allegations rose that the popular This Is What A Feminist Looks Like t-shirts, seen on Alexa Chung and other famous female figures, were made in a factory that exploited its primarily Mauritian female labor force to work 16 hours with poor wages in less than spectacular conditions. In response to the irony, one worker was quoted as saying: “How can this T-shirt be a symbol of feminism when we do not see ourselves as feminists? We see ourselves as trapped.” Which brings a lot of anti-feminists and those who in-between to ask: Do first-world, Western women even need feminism? They can vote, work, own property. Anything a man can do, they can do. What more do they want?

But despite all its downfalls, feminism needs to remain. And here are a couple of reasons why:

Currently, women make the majority of the United States’ population (157 million women compared to 151 million men, 50.8 percent compared to 49.2 percent), yet still remain heavily underrepresented in a lot of key industries. Today, women only make 20 percent of Congress. And that’s a victory figure, the highest it’s ever been in American history. In creating the media content we consume, women have even less say. 2014 numbers show that among the top 250 grossing films, women only made 11 percent of writers and 7 percent of directors. In the sciences, women also lose out. As girls grow older, it’s a sure prediction they will most likely lose interest in science, despite starting out primary school just as interested as their male peers. In fact, in a study Google and Gallup collaborated on, even teachers felt that boys were more interested and capable in computer science. Imagine the reactivity effect that must occur when girls are being taught by teachers who believe that their male students will do better anyway. Even in humanities subjects, girls don’t always end up doing better. Female authors find themselves stuck in the Young Adult or Romance section, and even then, most major literary awards go to novels by men or about men.

But why? Well, for one women haven’t always been encouraged to take on these roles. In 1947, only about 14 percent of women aged 19-24 were enrolled in college. Women now outnumber men in enrollment. But of course, this explosion in enrollment will take a while to manifest. This leads into the next reason: Representation. If women don’t see themselves in the industries they wish to pursue, they become discouraged, as with any minority group. And then there are hard barriers preventing women from advancement and financial stability. In addition to the wage gap, women who choose to have children will face a multitude of additional issues. A study done by Michelle Budig, a sociology professor at the University of Massachusetts, found that mothers will be penalized by their employers as opposed to fathers who will be rewarded. She calls this the “motherhood penalty” and the “fatherhood bonus.” For every child, mothers see a four percent decrease in earnings. She theorizes this is because old-fashioned notions of the family still hold, namely that women are not financial providers. And this is in combination with the fact that maternity leave will most likely be too short.

Even before entering the workplace, women will first have to deal with sexual assault on college campus. Many articles have dealt with this topic so I won’t elaborate too much. But consider this: One study found that 23 percent of women will encounter unwanted sexual contact during their time in college. It is unfair that women must also expect to be sexual assualted while trying to receive an education.

It is only the existence of feminism that has spotlighted these issues and ways to address them. Why is it that a demographic that makes more than half the population can’t be trusted to make decisions for us in politics? Or that there are barriers that exists to prevent female financial mobility? We need feminism because its goal has always been the equaling of the two sexes. And if you believe in equal rights, you are a feminist, men and women alike.

Helpful Links:

Women in the Workplace:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763170.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/equal-pay

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/upshot/a-child-helps-your-career-if-youre-a-man.html?_r=0

Emma Watson on Beyonce:

http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/03/tavi-to-emma-watson-i-dont-want-to-edit-vogue.html#

Cultural Critics on the novel, Lean In:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/02/25/reclin…

Women in Politics, Film, Literature:

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/01/26/despite-progress-u-s-still-lags-many-nations-in-women-leadership/

http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2014_Celluloid_Ceiling_Report.pdf