ONCE when I was at high school, all female students in my grade were asked to stay behind after class for what become known as "the sl*t talk".
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It was a small school, so there were about 20 of us.
After the boys filed out, three male teachers proceeded to lecture us on our sex lives.
Apparently we were pretty active, and had a lot to learn about self-respect.
It was a little confusing, given many of us were virgins, and the rest weren't exactly making their way through the football team.
But somehow, our teachers had made up their minds.
We tumbled out of the classroom shocked, uncomfortable and angry.
Many of our male classmates treated sex like sport. Why weren't they part of the conversation?
I'd like to think that lecture wouldn't happen now. But I know the inequality behind it remains.
Women are held to different standards than men.
Women's rights have of course dramatically improved, and that might make it easy to believe problems have disappeared or happen somewhere else.
That's just not true.
A couple of clear examples: in Australia a woman's work is worth less, with the gender pay gap this year rising to a record high of 18.2 per cent.
More concerningly, anywhere from a quarter to half of women will suffer physical or sexual violence by a man at some point in their lives.
I'm lucky to have a supportive workplace and great men in my life, but I'm still reminded that things aren't yet right.
Sometimes it's when I'm doing an interview, or walking home alone, but most often it's in the media.
Sports journalist Erin Molan cancelled a weekly radio appearance earlier this month after she was forced to answer questions about whether she'd had a boob job or slept with any famous sportsmen.
She wasn't asked a single thing about football.
The examples could go on. In my mind, the inequity is undeniable.
So it's strange to me that so many people appear uncomfortable with feminism.
Several influential women have publicly rejected it lately, including singers Kelly Clarkson and Lady Gaga, and actor Shailene Woodley.
Woodley's reason? "I love men, and I think the idea of 'raise women to power, take the men away from the power' is never going to work out because you need balance."
Yikes.
Yahoo chief executive Marissa Meyer also said she didn't consider herself a feminist, though she did believe in equal rights.
"I believe that women are just as capable, if not more so, in a lot of different dimensions," Ms Meyer said.
"But I don't, I think, have sort of the militant drive and sort of chip on the shoulder that comes with that."
It's baffling to think these ideas about feminists - that they hate men and have a chip on their shoulder - are still so common.
To quote Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, "feminism is simply someone who believes in the social, political and economic equality between the sexes".
It really is that simple. So why aren't all men and women on board?
Perhaps we'll know real progress when feminism isn't seen as a bad word.