“[In the U.S] when you get waited on [in restaurants] they treat males and females as equals, whereas in France they always look to the male,” said Sarah Philippona, business major at the University of Oregon. “I could be with my friend [and] I might be more mature than him but they will look to him as though he is the one who is going to pay. It really bothers me.”
This type of occurrence is common and opens the discussion to gender inequality, which also brings about feminism. We are facing a society that considers women a minority group, even though women happen to take up roughly half the population in the United States alone. Women are considered a minority around the world because they hold less power and rights than men (i.e wage gap, reproductive rights, education rights, marriage rights), which gives us fewer opportunities and thus makes us more of a minority. 
Gender inequality is a social issue that has been brought to the forefront of our social to-do list. Feminists have forced the public to be aware of the inequality that faces women and other minority genders. But now that the issue has risen, the majority of the feminist population has placed sets of demands for society to follow.
Although this might seem like a good idea – demanding that change occur – at this point, we are not at liberty to start expecting change from the general population, when it is so clear that much of the population was unaware of how wrong it was in the first place.
In her most recent tour “Confirmed Kills,” stand-up comedian Iliza Shlesinger has addressed the woman’s role in gender equality. “Girls, if you want respect you have to command respect not demand it,” said Shlesinger. “Commanding respect is in the actions. It’s way you speak about each other, it’s the way you speak about yourself.”   
In the context of how she uses these words, to command something of others is to direct something with authority—whether it be people, an event, or an abstract concept. To demand something is to ask something of others and expect gratification. The difference is small in definition but enormous in enactment.
Conformity is also a strong concept and relates to gender equality; if you want to see change, give the public a new set of social rules to conform to. The best way to do that is to enforce the changes.
“Don’t call each other ‘whores,’ don’t call each other ‘sluts,’” said Shlesinger, “because when you do that, society looks at you and they say ‘oh, it’s ok to talk to women that way.’ You teach people how to treat you… we’re starting from behind here, girls, we’ve got to say smarter things.”
The general population tends to learn from example. There needs to be an image or an idol that can be lived up to before society is ever subject to change. But instead of looking to those that this issue has just been unveiled for, we should be looking to each other (fellow feminists) to initiate the change.
A common example that women set for society is how we are viewed through the eyes of the general public. We compare ourselves and we tear other women down to feel better about ourselves. “You don’t even realize that you’re doing it sometimes.” Said Kourtland Thompson, an english major at the University of Oregon. “Then you see other people judging and being mean to other girls and you realize that you do it so often.”
Comparing ourselves to others so that we may put ourselves down should no longer be acceptable. We need to stand up for our own image and if we want others to respect and appreciate our bodies and ourselves then we have to be willing to stop treating ourselves without respect first.
It’s important to realize that women, themselves, set a strong example for others in society. No matter what future we hope to gain, the sooner feminists realize that we are responsible for it the sooner change will happen.
So women, I challenge you. The next time that you find yourself in an undesirable situation facing inequality, don’t allow your power to be taken away as it’s always been – give them a reason to treat you equal.  Make them feel your presence.

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Robles: Female feminists: We’ve stood, it’s time to walk