Before the 2014-2015 school year ended, I went down to the library with my English class for a “speed date” session, as the librarian called it, with a selection of books. The main purpose of the activity was to encourage students to take home as many books as they wanted to read over the summer.

Since I would be studying abroad for the 2015-2016 school year, I decided that I wouldn’t check any books out of the library, just in case I forgot to return them before I left. However, Mrs. Sieller, my English teacher, grabbed Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg off of one of the tables and explained that she highly recommended it. I ended up walking out of the library with the book, and I couldn’t be happier that I did.

Lean In is just one of those books that you appreciate by the last page and wouldn’t mind reading again. Throughout the pages of empowering words, advice, ideas, stories, and wisdom, Sandberg successfully shares her perspective regarding how and why women deserve to serve in more leadership positions in the workforce.

Authors always have a purpose when they write a book, and for some reason, I could not understand Sandberg’s when I began reading. As Sandberg basically explained that women needed to be encouraged, helped, understood, and given more opportunity in the workforce to decrease the gender gap, I couldn’t help but wonder how this would create the ‘fair’ atmosphere that feminism strives for.

Although Sandberg’s perspective on feminism wasn’t covered until towards the end of the book, I knew from the start that she would fully support the cause. I‘ve never been able to understand the subject of feminism, so I always stayed away from it. When I started reading the book, I actually started to hate feminism and thought that I would never be able to call myself a feminist. I stopped reading the book for a few days, because it seemed ridiculous that Sandberg would write a book about only the gender gap regarding women in the workforce. I couldn’t stop wondering why it didn’t seem like she wanted to support men and women equally in the workforce.

Although Sandberg sited studies and explained how men have more of an advantage, I couldn’t help but think that feminism would create a disadvantage for men. I figured that Sandberg didn’t have the intention of confusing her readers, so before I continued reading, I did a lot of thinking.

I finally came to the conclusion that feminism is just one small piece of a large puzzle that is working towards attaining true equality. Just how people work to end poverty, racism, or violence, people support feminism to work towards a fair world. If someone is extremely passionate about ending poverty, no one questions it. However, if someone supports feminism, people wonder why they wouldn’t support the other gender and start to question their cause, just like I originally did.

The truth is, we need each piece of the puzzle. Feminism is a concept that most people don’t understand, and when people don’t understand something, they tend to dislike it. By pulling myself away from Lean In to really contemplate Sandberg’s message, I was not only able to understand her point, but also the concept of feminism.

I reread the beginning of the book in order to appreciate and understand her words with a fresh set of eyes, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was even surprised when I read that Sandberg herself had been confused by feminism and, at one point, didn’t even consider herself a feminist.