No, not that one.
I am a feminist. As of last night, I finally just decided to give up the fight and call myself such. Honestly, I don’t know why I’ve been putting it off for as long as I have. I guess I assumed being queer and playing roller derby and being an anarchist counted enough to be able to avoid the uncomfortable awkwardness that comes along with telling lots of people that I am The F-Word. I’ve always been a feminist; my political affiliation (or lack thereof) makes it impossible NOT to be. It’s just getting over the fear of calling myself such.
Well, he got two right.
Sure, I’ve passed longingly (creepily) by the NOW tables, I’ve seen The Vagina Monologues several times over, I’ve participated in Take Back The Night, but I’ve never actually done research into the different ideologies or actually considered becoming an active feminist working under such a title.
This all came in light of a rather abstract conversation I won’t go into details about but somehow ended up on the subject of Jessica Valenti, editor for the amazing blog that I follow from time to time http://www.feministing.com. I’ve met her before, briefly, during my time at Texas A&M University as a board member for the GLBT organization. Anyways, following this conversation, I ran out and bought “Full Frontal Feminism” and proceeded to grow incredibly angry (and inspired) as I read the entire book in one sitting. Instead of doing my reading for Women’s Literature (somewhat ironic, I suppose).
Rabid Vaginaism.
So in light of all this rabid-vaginaism, I’d like to call lots of attention to the fact that A WEEK FROM TODAY it is
National Feminist Coming Out Day.
That’s right. If you are a closet feminist, are curious about feminism, or have been a feminist but never done much about it, March 8, 2011 is your day to be loud and proud.
Just as coming out of the closet as a GLBTQ individual involves a lot of soul-searching, self-educating, overcoming fear and stereotypes, and standing up for what you believe in, coming out as a feminist is much the same. There is an intense stigma surrounding those who actually chose to call themselves feminist or pro-feminist, one that is untrue and only serves the very purposes that feminism fights against in the first place. But if you give a shit about equality for anyone (civil rights, gay rights, religious freedom, anything), it’s important that you at least educate yourself about the feminist movement and women’s rights. Because true equality and freedom for everyone cannot EVER be achieved if there is even one oppressed, marginalized group.
Also, this picture:
ParadigmSubverter 