I Am a Feminist!

 (Feminist button bought from I <3 Female Orgasm 2012 event)

 

Hey guys! Welcome back!

So, as always, the title dictates. I’m a feminist!

Let’s jump straight into it with some Myth-busting Time:

1. Not all feminists are women. I know a good number of guys who support equal rights. If you support equal rights among everyone, guess what? You’re a feminist, too!

2. Men who are feminists are not all gay. See #1. Guys across the spectrum support equal rights.

3. Feminist women are not lesbian man-haters that want to rule over men. I cannot speak for all women, of course, but women just want equal rights. Sexual orientation doesn't matter. And ruling over men would create imbalance and the same problem of unequal rights would begin again. Besides, I’m bisexual- you know that to be bisexual, I have to like men to some degree (haha).

Now, you may have noticed that I keep throwing around the phrase “equal rights.” That’s because that is just what they are- rights that women want to be equal between all genders (women, men, and people who don’t label themselves as either). The more common phrase is “women’s rights,” but I think “equal rights” is the more politically correct term.

Think of it like this: “women’s rights” are not special rights. They are merely rights that women want so that they can be equal to men and have the same privileges. If you’re not convinced, think about the phrases “gay rights” or “gay weddings.” We don’t call heterosexual weddings “straight weddings” or their rights “straight rights,” do we? Neither are the rights of humans called “men’s rights” and shouldn’t really be labeled “women’s rights” either- they are “human rights.” See what I mean?

So why am I a feminist? Well, I could say it’s because I am a woman; anyone could argue that this makes me a feminist by default. But no, I don’t think I’ve always been a feminist. I mean- I’ve supported equal rights my whole life, but it was in silence and without full knowledge of what was going on. I actually took a Women’s Studies course last semester that changed my outlook on many things. I now look at things more closely, somewhat scrutinizing advertisements and comments for sexist assumptions and expectations (for both genders, too!). You would be amazed how many there are.

So what’s changed for me? I now profess that I am (take note of the button that resides on my bookbag above), indeed, a feminist. I choose not to laugh at sexist comments or illustrations (i.e.: pictures or comments telling the woman to get back in the kitchen). And I choose not to date (and attempt not to associate with) sexist people who do not change their ways (dated a semi-sexist guy that had like-minded friends. I will not be doing that again…). Even these personal little actions can make any a feminist. Even better would be doing community/feminist work. I have not yet worked up to that, but I have attended Take Back the Night events (community events of awareness and to support survivors of sexual assault, sexual abuse and rape) and this week I will be attending my first ever V-day event (and by “V-day” I do not mean Valentine’s Day, per se. Here, take a look: http://www.vday.org/home. It is kind of hard to explain, especially since I’ve yet to attend one. It seems to be similar to Take Back the Night, though. I’ll report back after I attend). Now that is a good way to spend a good Valentine’s Day… perhaps I’ll ask my crush to go?

As with most of my topics, this is merely the tip of the iceberg. But what would you take away from this if all I did was overwhelm you?

Thanks for reading- I really appreciate it.

Love abound,

~H.P. Echo~

P.S: Here is a little present for everyone, whether you’re single and ready to mingle, in a relationship, in a complicated relationship or whatever other relationship status Facebook offers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDMwpVUhxAo&list=HL1360640621