More precisely, I think that the word "equality" should not be used to describe the thing that (most) feminists want.
I will also mention that this is about people who actually identify as feminists in real life, not the abstract concept of feminism. I understand that feminism is very diverse, and that my arguments will not apply to feminism as a whole, however, the vast majority of feminists hold beliefs that are not implied by the definition of feminism, and I will consider those beliefs to be part of feminism for the purposes of this discussion. I understand this is a vague statement, but I hope you understand what I mean.
The biggest reason is that on the surface, it appears to be just like the other kind of equality - mathematical equality, but is actually very different. This is the only other context that equality comes up in that is familiar to most people. In mathematics, equality is sameness - two things that are equal in math are literally the same thing. To say that 2+3 = 5 means that the expressions "2+3" and "5" refer to the same mathematical object.
Social equality, on the other hand, appears to be like this, at first. If men were paid $20/hr for a job and women were paid $10, would that not be unequal? Equality is achieved when men and women are paid the same amount. If white people were sentenced to 5 years in prison for a certain crime, and black people were sentenced 10 years, that would be considered an inequality - because the sentencings are not the same.
At first glance, it seems, that social equality is just like mathematical equality, but once one goes deeper, it is not. The differences between social and mathematical equality are clear: the [substitution property] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equality_(mathematics)#Some_basic_logical_properties_of_equality of equality is violated all the time, it is explicitly not sameness, and violates the axiom of extensionality
As such, feminists claim to be supportive of equality, give examples of inequalities like the ones above, creating an expectation of sorts that social equality is just like mathematical equality, and then reveals that social equality is nothing like that. I imagine something like this:
Feminist: hey /u/wecl0me12, do you believe in gender and racial equality?
Me (thinking): I believe that people should be treated the same regardless of gender or race, and I also believe that equality captures this notion of sameness because of the substitution property and it being an equivalence relation
Me: Yes, I do.
Feminist: Then you believe that black people can say the n-word, but it's racist for white people to do so. You must also believe that it's ok for us to write articles generalizing the male gender in a negative way, but if you do it to the female gender you're sexist! and also you believe that it's impossible to be racist against white people or sexist against men, because racism/sexism is prejudice plus power!
Me: Hold on... I disagree with some of that stuff you say there. That violates the substitution property of equality.
Feminist: That's mathematical equality! Social equality doesn't work like that!
Me: I appear to be mistaken on what equality is. I don't think I believe in equality anymore
Feminist: So you think it's OK to treat women and racial minorities unfairly? You're racist and sexist!
This kind of thing is what I mean here. Feminism is all about equality, yet social equality is so different from mathematical equality, yet the differences are so subtle, that it creates misunderstandings and causes confusion, not something that is desirable.
TL: DR: It's misleading because social equality seems just like mathematical equality when it's actually very different.
EDIT: awarded a delta here : https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/5kidx6/cmvto_say_that_feminists_want_equality_is_highly/dbp0bfw/?context=8
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