The idea of equality is still how I define feminism. I think it's a broad definition that encompasses the variety of experiences women and men have with the word and the movement.

In terms of feminism, I would just ask young women to keep an open mind about it and try to learn about it before they write it off or believe the negative stereotypes that surround it. Feminism can help you on a personal level, it can offer you an incredible community of brilliant and impassioned people, and can change the way you see the world if you just open yourself up to it. I think that goes for all causes as well.

I actually felt like college was a much better and more comfortable environment for me than high school was. I think that can largely be attributed to the fact that I go to Barnard, which is a women's college that promotes women's leadership, a strong community and independence which are all things I obviously value. Before I got to school I think I expected most women there to identify as feminist, which I found wasn't necessarily the case, but I loved that I was able to have really intelligent and stimulating conversations with women about feminism no matter how they identified.

It's always been important to me to be very upfront with people about the fact that I do identify as a feminist because it's an opportunity to expose people to and educated them about the movement. Young women don't identify as feminist is because they don't know any feminists and don't have a comprehensive understanding of what it is, I gave them example and an opportunity to ask about it. And once they saw that I wasn't the embodiment of the negative feminist stereotype - that I was a normal teen girl just like them - I think they became more open to learning about what feminism really is.

I can't really speak to what it was like to call yourself a feminist in the past on a personal level but I think calling oneself a feminist in the past may have been inimical because feminists in the '70s were the first to really challenge deeply embedded gender roles and demand concrete political and economic rights. They were asking for rights that seemed like a direct threat to those in power - they were asking for equality in a society that didn't have it in an obvious way. They were put down and villainized because they were seen as threatening.

I honestly feel that most young women out there are feminists - they just don't know that the word "feminism" describes the things they believe in. I wants to show young women that while feminists of the past did incredible work and that while the relative equality we experience now is due to their hard work, we still have a ways to go. We still have to fight for our rights and be vigilant in terms of keeping the rights we do have.

I have been villainized because of my identity - I've received nasty blog comments and emails just based on my willingness to identify with feminism by people who clearly don't understand what I value and why I identify as a feminist. Ultimately, I'm less concerned with whether or not people identify as feminist and am more concerned with whether or not people understand what feminism is. If they don't want to identify as a feminist that's fine. I respect people's decision to identify any way they want and expect that same respect in return, although I don't always get it.