Sorry it has been so long…. There have been a few things on my mind and I will slowly bombard you with new posts in the next few days.
Today’s blog is about a topic that I have never really given much thought – feminism. It has never crossed my mind that I may live in a country that did not support women in doing what ever it is that they may want to do. I understand that part of this is my own ignorance, but I think that a lot of it has to do with my family, my friends and the way I was raised. The people that surround me support me in all my crazy endeavours, my parents think that there is nothing that I could not achieve if I put my mind to it.
The reason that this has been floating around my head started with International Women’s Day and since then there have been snippets of news cropping up about how we are going backwards, that women see themselves as objects, that they need to dress a certain way, they need to look a certain way. (Note that is use the word ‘they’ not me, not we, more on this later). Strong women are criticised, women who decide to step down from a position of power are criticised, those that stay home to raise their family are criticised. There just doesn’t seem to be any place that you can stand without someone criticising.
The definition of feminism by dictionary.com is ‘the support of social, political and economic rights for women equal to those of men’. If this is the definition of feminism, then surely all those women in the scenarios above should be able to do what ever it is that makes them happy without having the public scrutinising their choices. The cynical bit of me thinks that just happens to be the world we live in today and the public would criticise anything.
Perhaps I am lucky, perhaps its because I am old, perhaps its because I am happy with myself that I have trouble identifying with women who feel they are objectified and who need to act and dress a certain way. Perhaps my mum installed an independence in me from such a young age that it never even crossed my mind that I needed to think about any of this until recently. The way I dress empowers me, it makes ME feel good.
I never really had any idols growing up, nor did I ever have any famous crushes, it would seem that I was ever the realist. However I remember being 13 and watching Tank Girl (movie based on a comic by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett) for the first time and realising she was awesome. She was funny, eclectic, crazy, brave, pretty and above all strong willed and tough. She could fight with the boys, be one of the girls and have fun doing it (and causing mayhem in the process). She is my idea of feminism. She could be whoever she wanted to be and anyone who didn’t like it could suck it up.
So what is the point of this post? I definitely understand why there needs to be people fighting for and educating others about equality for everyone. But equality is something that doesn’t come from forcing people to do something or act a certain way. It is about educating people, confidence in oneself and understanding. Its about the human being you are not the gender you were born. For me feminism is allowing a woman to have the choice of doing what she wants to do. Be it become a CEO of a large corporation or a stay at home mum. Both women play a vital role in our society, but for different reasons. The most important part of feminism, is that the women in both these roles need to be understanding of the other.
I am thankful that I live somewhere that allows me to knit, bake and play house, swing dance, while at the same time enjoying boxing, shooting, martial arts and video games. I am especially thankful that I am surrounded by people who are happy in themselves and have the sense to know that magazines are a great way to pass the time and is not a reflection of their body shape or self worth. Here is a little article which I thought was very well written… I don’t just think this about women, but men as well. Those in jobs with long hours and lots of travel, they too can’t have it all. They give something up for their career…. They just don’t talk about it.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/
studentexistence 