Feminist or Foe

I am a feminist.  I didn't always know I was or would have felt that being called a feminist was a great thing.  I have always been proud to be a woman, but felt that to be a feminist you had to act a certain way and believe certain things.  I thought that to be a feminist you had to believe women were not only equal but superior to men and that you had to be angry at men for where our female gender was in the world.  It was so black and white to me at that time.  But the truly wonderful thing is that being a feminist isn't about black and white, it's just about acceptance.  All kinds of acceptance for everyone.  Not just women.

The most recent election has brought feminists out of the woodwork.  With his words and actions, President Trump has made it clear where women stand in his mind.  With more reading about President Trump has come a greater and deeper understanding of what women in our country have faced and still face every single day.  I will continue to be a voice for all women and all mankind moving forward. 

Stories still continue to surprise me.  I have been blessed in my life to associate myself with people who respect women and treat them as near, almost equals.  I have been blessed to enter a career where women are on equal footing.  I am blessed that in my life, I have not experienced the real horrors of what some women have faced.  But have I experienced gender inequality.  Absolutely.

Some of the following are just a few statements, examples, stories that not only can I relate to, but I am guessing that almost every woman reading this blog has either personally experienced or knows a woman who has.  Stories like these are why I am a feminist.  

I remember the first time I heard of "rape culture".  I didn't believe it.  But the more I've read, the more disappointed in myself I was.  How did I not see it?  How did I bury my head in the sand and not realize what was going on all around me and to me?  How did I not speak out against every joke or time I heard the victim blamed for what happened to her?  It made me angry at myself, angry at the way women were treated, angry at how it was laughed off as just how things were.  I had a lot to learn and my own behavior to change.  And so does the rest of society.  All we can do is keep talking, teaching and sharing.

I reached this point of my life.  The point where I am proud to say that I am a feminist.  I will continue to fight for women, men, all races, sexualities, religions, all people to be treated fairly and equally.  I will fight my own misconceptions, the things I was taught by the world around me and I will fight to be a better person.  That is all we can ever do.  Be the best we can be for ourselves and to others.