Question:

Feminists: what inspired you to become one?

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Me: This past year we learned a lot about women's rights and rights women didn't and still don't have. Also, we've learned a lot of injustices women face and I had a business teacher who was very stereotypical towards husbands being the bread winner and so on, which irritated me. Also, I thought it was just important to establish that women's rights continue and we change the way people think and so on.

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  1. It jus happened for me. Maybe growing up, that the girls had to wash the dishes while the boys (who were older) jus sat and washed t.v. I remember always asking, why can't the boys do it? and being shushed for asking such a question. I love "being" a feminist.


  2. i was raised as a feminist. i think that any intelligent person should support feminism and equality.

  3. Read more. Don't take anything for face value don't believe statistics till you read the whole report. Don't believe past grievances till you actually study history.

            The day you see the whole story the day your mind will quickly change. But to be young.......(ekk only 23 and feel old... I hate knowledge)..

            Anyways growing up was middle child... So all the responsibilities of oldest all the limitations of youngest...

         But I never seen any gender roles growing up. There where times when my mom stayed more at home then there where times when my dad stayed more at home.

            But I came here to contest the notion that women faced injustice upon injustice in days long past.

          I wonder if the notion "women and children first". Or the draft. Or the notion of the husband working 8-16 hours a day to provide for the family, come home then sleep than go back to work stuck in a lousy job while all the wives had to do was stay home mind the house, the children then when they where in school do what ever they want..... Starting to see a very clear picture of who got the short end of the stick...

              But here is a word of advice. Most women don't stay in the work force past 30 if they can help it. I am sure you will find out in another 10 years.

  4. I lived in rural poor communities and learned early to cheer for the underdog-so for me that meant trying to respect the  poor; women; people of color; and g**s and lesbians. My parents tried their best but my father was physically violent and beat my brothers and myself. I abhor violence of any kind-of course against children women and men.

    I'm guessing I'm a lot older than you are (I'm almost 50).

    I was in high school 1972-76 and abortion became legal in 1973 and birth control wasn't legal for unmarried women until the later 70's. I heard of girls going to unwed homes for mothers and girls not coming back after illegal abortions.

    The 1970's were the first time a battered women's shelter opened or a rape crisis center existed. I remember my parents whispering about women being battered and raped by their husbands-but there was nothing anyone would do  about it in our rural areas.  No one cared. Marital rape was legal until 1993 when NC finally outlawed it-it had to be changed state by state-starting in the 1970's.

    It was also the first time that jobs were NOT listed by gender-based on a law suit started by NOW and other social groups that took most of the 1970's to resolve. I was told many times I couldn't apply for a job because "girls don't do that". I was also denied applying for promotions because "girls don't do that". The equal pay act was passed in 1964 but it hasn't been enforced very well..especially not in the 1970's.

    It was the first time large numbers of women went to college-including me. I got a degree in computer programming and at my first job one of the managers said (seriously) to my peers and other managers that women who were prostitutes worked outside the home. I was married and was not happy with being called a prostitute for computer programming. It wasn't the first case of sexual harassment I was around-but most of the time I was only a witness-not the one being harassed-this was in the 1980's. So much for progress.

    It's better now than in the 1960's and 1970's when I grew up-but there's still a lot more women could be doing politically and economically that will take quite a long time to achieve at the rate we're presently going in the good ole USA.

  5. I've always been a feminist, but I only started taking it seriously after reading The Feminine Mystique.

  6. What inspired me to become a feminist? This song from '72, amongst other things.  I was a pre-teen when I saw much of the second wave feminism play out, and it was definitely an influence on my thinking (or at least my understanding of what feminism was at the time).

  7. Kris W., hey, you said it. Don't believe any stats until you can back it up and your 'stat' about women not staying in the work force past 30 is a bunch of bullshit. Women work just as much as men, especially with the increase of the ability to take paternal leave (the men and women can now share the time off when a baby is born).

    Furthermore, you're absolutely correct that men had a crappy life in the past, but so did women. IWomen were expected to work once they reached a certain age so that they didn't 'burden' their fathers with the extra responsibility. Once they were married off, they were expected to STOP working immediately. And, when women did work, it was consider very unfair because women were never, ever considered "Skilled". A man who did tailoring was considered "skilled", but a woman with the same job was not. Because they did the tailoring at home, it was just thought to come 'naturally' to women and therefore was not a skill. During WW1 (and to an extent WW2) while men were drafted off to war, as you mentioned, women were expected to work in the factories, facing MANY of the same problems as the men...maybe even more, as the women were SEXUALLY harrassed and chastised for going to work. And, since urbanization led to women entering the work force in larger numbers and for longer periods of time during the wars, men came back and had to fight for unionization and to an extent, feminism. Women were less likely to fight for their rights in the workplace, because they were expected to leave as soon as the war was over, but since families really couldn't survive on one income any longer, women were required to stay in the work force. Men actually had to start fighting for equal rights in order to get their own (As women took over the jobs which equalled less pay for everyone - as women were considered largely disposable).

    Furthermore, how dare you assume that a woman's home job was easy. It was not at all. They lived in c**p holes. Especially during the industrial revolution. They were expected to do all the shopping, clean, cook, and care for the children. They were also expected to care for the elderly and sick and they often went to work at homes as domestics. Now, cleaning and cooking isn't so bad nowadays, but remember that women didn't have the same tools we do today. I just think you "Knowledge" is mostly not knowledge at all...and a preconception based on someone elses "Knowledge".

  8. My girlfriend in college was a big time feminist. and she inspired me by introducing me to feminist literature such as Alice Walker and Bell Hooks. But since college my view on feminism has changed. I'm still for woman's equality and rights, birth control and woman's voice. However I don't think that woman have to give up there femininity to have these rights. I believe a woman can have  a successfully career and still be  a loving mother and wife. I don't think that woman should give up their roles as nurtures or lovers to be hard professional. I think that they can achieve the same success as a man by doing it "her" way.

  9. Looking back, I think it was a natural evolution.

    There weren't any women's studies courses or even many women's groups when I was young, and it was really only by accident I stumbled on some women authors who made me think that maybe the way I saw the world wasn't so very weird and out of step after all.

    From there, it was a matter of learning and growing.

    Cheers :-)

  10. My mom. She's brilliant, beautiful, strong in mind in and spirit, and an amazing mother and neurosurgeon. She's faced more challenges as a woman and a working mother in a male-dominated field, but the fact that's she gets up every morning and goes out there and does it all anyway and still takes the time to care about and advocate for others is so inspiring to me.

    My great grandmother and my grandmothers, all of whom have voted in every single election, and are ladies in every way. They didn't burn their bras or march in protests. They used the power of their vote to make advances for women, and they used their power as mothers to teach their daughters to be strong and smart and reach their full potential, and for their sons to respect women.

    My dad. A feminist is anyone who believes in the political, social, and economic equality of the sexes, which he does. My dad is an intelligent, accomplished, and generous man who respects and appreciates women.....especially ones with those qualities. He believes in doing his part to support and encourage women, both the ones he personally knows and the ones he doesn't by voting for and supporting policies that will benefit them. He also runs his company in a way that is very supportive of women.

    He's never once told me I couldn't do something because I'm a girl. Rather he's said "go for it."

    : )

  11. My dad, who taught me to never think I was "less than" and to go after whatever I wanted in life.

  12. Feminism is great they did some wonderful things for women and i applaud all those that spoke up for us women. I do agree to a certain extent that women can do men's jobs and vice versa. Society just embeds in our minds what is acceptable for men and women. However, in todays society I think feminism is dead, yup dead. Women have all of this freedom, we can do anything and were equal to men. But feminism is dead because we have half naked women walking around throwing themselves to men and having no respect for themselves. Young women call each other derogatory names thinking that their supporting women. NO feminism was all about helping other women and having respect for yourself and being able to control your own body. But today men in the corporate world controll women bodies ie / billboards , fashion executives, pornography. if women want to become real women like the feminists that paved the way for our freedom then we need to stay true to ourselves. And if we don't correct ourselves then our daughters will be inferior to men and then who will create another feminist movement?

  13. my mother always stoood up for her rights and never at workplace or in the family did she stand any kind of male chauvnism

    my grandmother and great grandmother -very strong females

    infact, my  great grandmother was illiterate, widowed and brought up three children in the face of financial crisis

    my mother hates male chauvnism  and most importantly women who take this kind of nonsense

    i have always been surrounde by strong, willful , strong willed females

    they have taught me my best lessons

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