Why aren’t you?
I was a feminist long before I even knew it was a thing. I was raised by a dominating stepfather. This man controlled everything in our home, and if we kids ever questioned him, the answer was always the same: “Cause I say so, and I pay the bills.”
And so it begins …
My high school guidance counselor, a woman, suggested that I train to become an airline stewardess, not a pilot. Or a nurse, not a doctor. I told her I wanted to teach, and her only comment was, “That would work because you could be home on holidays and after school to care for your children.” She never asked if I planned to have children. I couldn’t help but wonder if she suggested that the boys take jobs or careers that would make them available to care for their children.
After graduating, my parents made it clear that they were not going to support my going to college. My stepdad simply said that if I wanted to go to school, I’d need to get a job and pay for it. So I did. It took me years, filled with lots of detours, before I got to college, but I did get there.
While working full-time, I took night classes in accounting, typing, and stenography. These classes were boring at best, but they helped me get a slightly better job than the one I had as a store clerk. Clerical jobs paid better, and a few even offered minimum benefits. The tasks were mundane–filing, answering the phones, typing letters, and filling out endless forms. My bosses, all men, either ignored me completely (unless I made a mistake) or bosses who tried to have sex with me (their wives didn’t understand them, poor dears).
Let’s face it: most societies are patriarchal and have been for hundreds of years.
The white fathers told us: I think, therefore I am. The black goddess within each of us – the poet – whispers in our dreams: I feel, therefore I can be free.
Audre Lorde
Feminists advocate for equal rights for everyone–women and men. This is why I am a feminist, why aren’t you?
Finally, college bound!
Fast-forward years later, and with one failed marriage behind me, I finally got to college. I studied computer science and programming. I was a natural. Math was my jazz, and writing programs was like solving puzzles. It was fun.
By this time, I was pretty skilled at not responding to the professors who didn’t expect anything from us women. When I needed answers or help, I found a way around their bias. But this quickly got old and I realized I was following the money, not my heart. I switched majors and went into liberal arts and took my first creative writing classes.
I’ve never looked back!
Feminism is my fire, my passion!
Every human regardless of their social, political, and economic status deserves equal rights. Many feel like I do, it’s a no-brainer, after all, women hold up (more than) half the sky. The unfortunate truth is, we are still dominated by the male patriarch. But we possess the power to right this wrong and make it a more egalitarian society.
Feminism is my fire, my passion because it is the right thing to do. It is a community of like-minded people who want the best for everyone regardless of gender or the color of our skin. The feminist movement, which started more than 100 years ago, empowered me to give myself permission to be me.
I raise up my voice–not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard… We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.
Malala Yousafzai
Raise your voice, stand with me.
My passion is empowering myself and others to help overturn and override oppression and injustice and feminism is my vehicle. We do this one tiny step or movement at a time by listening to our hearts and to each other. We act from hope, from love and a belief in goodness.
I write, I listen, and I sometimes disagree but I always respect your voice. In the past, I marched, served on several boards of directors to help the oppressed, and accompanied women to safe shelters and Planned Parenthood. We, all of us, deserve to be treated fairly. You don’t have to like me, nor do you have to agree with my point of view. But if you believe in human rights, you must stand with me.
I am a feminist, why aren’t you?
I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t.
Audre Lorde