Feminism is the belief that everyone, regardless of gender, should have equal rights and opportunities.

It really is that simple. For all the different types of feminist theories and practices – for all the different schools of political, economic, and social thought – the grounding principle of feminism is equality.

And in today’s intersectional feminism, we mean equality for everyone, regardless of gender identity, sexuality, race, class, or ethnicity.

A feminist is someone who holds and acts on the simple belief that all women and girls should have equal rights and the same opportunities as men. Anyone can be a feminist.

People might also have different reasons for being or becoming a feminist. (It’s never too late!) Like any label, some people proudly proclaim themselves as feminists, while others might hold feminist values but choose not to use the label. And contrary to stereotypes: Hating men does not make someone a feminist.

To use a feminist perspective or lens is to approach an issue, any issue, in a way that considers the gender dynamics at play in women’s lives – the social, political, and economic interactions that tend to favour men over women. It asks: How do we address those power dynamics to bring more equal rights and opportunities for women and girls?

Why take a feminist lens? Because historically (and presently), the rules and norms of many societies have been formed and enforced for men, by men. That’s patriarchy – and it feeds gender inequality.

Men’s perspectives, needs, and preferences shape many of the systems, laws, and rules – formal and informal – that govern our lives: The way medical research is conducted around male averages; how AI has been trained on data sets with gender bias; how care work and other “feminine” jobs are paid less, or not at all.

These unequal power dynamics tip the scales in favour of men and boys. A feminist approach looks at who has power and who doesn’t – and why.

To put feminism into practice, first, means including women and girls in decision-making, empowering them to lead on matters that impact them. In fact, many women’s movements have grown from the denial of women’s independence – including the suffrage movement.

Take care work. The people who care for the needs of others – for children and elders, in households and communities – hold our societies and economies together, to the benefit of everyone. To look at care work with a feminist lens is to see how most of these responsibilities are given to women and girls – often unpaid, and sometimes at the expense of other personal and professional opportunities.

To put feminism into practice, for example, is to recognize the value of care work (40 per cent of the GDP in some countries) and to ensure these women have influence on related government and employer policies. In other words: using a feminist lens ensures policies consider the needs of all genders equally.

Throughout history, feminist movements have fought for women’s rights, justice, and equality across regions and cultures.

Early feminist movements were rooted in decolonization and independence movements. Feminism was not a pursuit of women’s rights in isolation; it critiqued colonial extraction and occupation and cast a feminist lens to antiracist struggles.

There are many inspiring examples: From the feminist and social reforms in pre-independence India that established laws to protect widows’ rights and girls’ education in the 1800s, to post-independent South Africa, where the Bantu Women’s League in 1918 became the first organization to advocate for the rights of black women, and Nigeria’s Aba Women’s Riot that won reforms on unfair taxes in 1929.

In the 19th century, women in different parts of the world, beginning with New Zealand in 1893, fought and won the right to vote in national elections. “First-wave feminism” in the United States of America was associated with the suffrage movement.

Women’s liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s further expanded women’s choices in education, work, and public life. In the 1990s, intersectional feminism drew attention to how the impacts of sexism are interwoven with – and made worse by – racism, classism, ableism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination.

Today, feminism continues to build on intersectionality to confront persistent and new issues: sexual assault and body shaming, homophobia and transphobia, and digital abuse, which has unleashed new forms of violence.

Feminism is as relevant as it has ever been – because no country in the world has fully achieved gender equality.

Around the world, many women and girls still lack basic human rights. The numbers are jarring:

• One in three women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime
• One in five girls are married before the age of 18
• Six in ten femicides are committed by a woman or girl’s family or intimate partners
• Women hold less than two-thirds of the legal rights of men
• In half of all countries, consent is still not the legal standard against rape

Some of the most pressing issues of our times – peace and security, migration, extreme violence – impact women and girls differently, sometimes more directly, than men and boys. Chronic underinvestment in gender data also makes these inequalities harder to address.

Right now, the feminist movement is facing huge waves of anti-gender backlash. Some countries that have made strides – including gender parity in political leadership and reproductive rights – are experiencing anti-feminist pushback that threatens to roll back progress on women’s rights. Recent UN Women research reflects how this backlash goes hand in hand with the rise of anti-democratic movements that are undermining human rights and the rule of law globally.

Meanwhile, funding to women’s organizations has been drastically cut in recent years, just as activists, journalists, and survivors report rising threats to their safety and the safety of their families.

Women’s rights movements need allies. Are you ready? Here’s how to get started:

• Learn: Grow your understanding of gender equality. Explore UN Women’s vast resources, including our reader-friendly explainers or our deep-dive reports, like the annual Gender Snapshot.
• Apply a feminist lens to the issues you care about: How are gender and climate change related? What’s it like to be a woman or girl online? Do women have full control of their futures, or even their bodies? Why are women making less money than men? Why are there fewer women in science, media, and politics? Think about the barriers women and girls face where you live.
• Find (or create) your community: The history of feminism proves how powerful we are when we work together. Look into local or online organizations that address the issues you care about. Whether it’s safety in public spaces and homes, gender equality in sports or coding, voting rights or the right to run for office – a feminist lens helps us understand more holistic solutions to complex issues. And women-led organizations often push society forward, even when political institutions fail to.
• Advocate: Call on decision-makers in governments, institutions, and businesses to invest in women’s opportunities, protect women’s rights, and accelerate their actions on gender equality.

As early as its founding, feminists have steered breakthrough moments at the United Nations, including the recognition that women’s rights are human rights and the formation of UN Women 15 years ago. UN Women stands with women’s movements worldwide – for the rights and empowerment of ALL women and girls.