Feminist is an ugly word. At least that’s what people tell me. I used to agree with them, but I don’t see it anymore.

I used to think feminism was an exercise in futility. ‘Feminist’ was an epithet for angry old women and bitter young ones. What was the point? I never felt oppressed. I could vote, own property, go to school, drive.

We’ve been exploited for labor and denied suffrage, property rights and education for thousands of years. We’re still exploited. Saudi Arabia- where women can’t even vote or drive- Israel and other fundamentalist states aside, we’re still exploited right here at home.

It’s difficult to delve into the subjugation of 51 percent of the population in less than 500 words, so we’ll keep it short and sweet.

Women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. A big reason why is that in this country the federal minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour. It hasn’t been raised since 1991, 22 years ago. Only seven states require the same minimum wage for tipped workers and non-tipped workers. Fortunately, California is one of them. Unfortunately, according to Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, two-thirds of restaurant workers earning sub-minimum wage are women. Restaurant workers account for the two lowest-paid jobs in America.

We’re not done. The fight isn’t over. It’s not even close. And every time I laugh at some douche bag’s dumb joke about how ‘ladies be talkin’ or ‘ladies be in the kitchen,’ a small part of me dies. I used to laugh at those jokes and genuinely find them funny. But they’re not.

Put aside for a moment the fact these idiots haven’t come up with a new joke since I was 10, and think about a few things. We’ve had 43 men who’ve held the office of President of the United States of America. No women have held that office, or the office of Vice President, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Treasury, or Chief Justice. I could go on. According to “The Unfinished Revolution,” 70 percent of men would like an equal marriage, but would want their wives to give up their careers if an equal partnership was unattainable. 75 percent of women said they’d rather get divorced than be a homemaker.

I can’t even tell you how many men have walked up to me, identified themselves as a co-conspirator and proceeded to tell me a truly horrifying joke. I’m not saying this generation’s men are the source of the problem. We’ve been indoctrinated into a culture of misogyny passed down from generation to generation since man first saw the plants growing from his own feces and realized he could farm (Jared Diamond, “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” Ch. 7). Today’s generation, yesterday’s generation and tomorrow’s generation of men and women will choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution.

I am a feminist. You should be too.