Many would agree that at the very least a feminist is someone who holds that women suffer discrimination because of their sex, that they have specific needs with remain negated and unsatisfied, and that the satisfaction of these needs would require a radical change (some would say a revolution even) in the social, economic, and political order. -Rosalind Delmar (Cott et al. 2)

Feminism is the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. Feminism is noted as both being both ideological as well as philosophical (Hoffman 193). Feminism challenges the patriarchal hierarchies which are responsible for the imbalance of opportunities among the genders (Harlan 13). The goal of feminism is a gender equal, post-patriarchal society. While the feminist movement is majority-led by women, the scope of the movement is not limited to women - anyone can be a feminist, and feminism benefits more than women. Harlan writes:

Feminists are united in their goal of improving conditions for all women, and, by extension, to children and men (18).

There exist differentiated forms of feminism, including: liberal feminism, radical feminism, and socialist feminism, “each representing differing feminisms within a single body of argument unified by its commitment to the emancipation of women.” (Hoffman 193) Hoffman writes that “all feminisms are a critique of patriarchy or male domination, and are identifiable as feminist, because they all contribute, in their different ways, to the same end.” Despite different shifts in focus, all feminists share the overarching goal of gender equality (Harlan 13).