What's got eight letters, three syllables and a bad reputation? Feminism. To mark international women's day 2012 we asked a host of celebrities, politicians and public figures about what the word means to them.
From Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, who told The Huffington Post UK he "likes women", to think tank founder Charlotte Vere, who argued the word is irrelevant in modern times, each had a different answer - and a different perspective.
Human rights lawyer Cherie Blair says she's "proud to call herself a feminist."
"I am a human rights lawyer so obviously I see feminism as very much a part of the whole question of human rights i see it as about equal dignity equal opportunity of life for men and women.
"I see it as something that isn't just about women in isolation.. We will never achieve women's rights unless we involve men in the discussions and in the outcome," she told The Huffington Post UK.
Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst told us it was about valuing "the curves and the straight lines", Whereas actress Wunmi Mosaku said it was to do with "equal opportunities": "We're hoping to move into a place where women are taken notice of, equalities are taken notice of," she told The Huffington Post UK.
Writer Owen Jones said it was a movement that could help liberate men "from a narrow, macho form of masculinity" too, sentiments echoed by Peter Tatchell who told us "crimes against women are crimes against humanity."
Click to read David Cameron's blog How We're Tackling Violence Against Women: An Iceberg Under the Surface of Society.
Check out the slideshow below and don't forget to tell us what feminism means to you in the comments or on twitter using the hashtag #thefword
Click to read David Cameron's blog How We're Tackling Violence Against Women: An Iceberg Under the Surface of Society.