With Love

IV

I am a feminist. A loud, vulgar, original, intelligent woman.So hear me when I say I am a woman who wants equality. I want girls to be taught that they can do anything a boy can do.  Do not confuse me with those who have taken feminism and beat it into something it is not. I am ashamed of the women who say their feminism is the hatred of men, and of those who say that their feminism stands only for one race,one religion, one class. Their feminism is not feminism at all. It is just an ideology that they confuse with my feminism.

My feminism is true feminism. The kind that has fought and clawed its way through generations, through countries. The kind that has survived hundred of years and has been carried through the courageous blood of men and women of every race, religion, and socioeconomic standing. My feminism believes in freedom of choice and opportunity. It believes that it is okay for women to stay at home and raise children, just as it is okay for men to stay home and raise children. That it is okay for a woman to lose a job to a man, so long as she lost due to the contents of her mind, not the content on her body. My feminism does not blame men for my problems. My feminism believes that no means no, whether you say it to man or woman. That girls and women have the right to speak their mind without being called bossy or bitchy. That girls and boys should be raised in the same way- girls can like playing sports and wearing jerseys without being called a dyke, and boys can like to dance and wear makeup without being called a fag or a pussy. My feminism believes women and girls should not be objectified and viewed as sex objects from the time she grows breasts. My feminism also believes that if you choose to be a model or a stripper or whatever on earth you choose to be, you mean just as much as anyone else. My feminism believes there is nothing wrong with that.

That's where I think their feminism got twisted. My feminism means equality- which means that you, whether you are a man or woman, can be whoever and whatever you dream. It doesn't matter your profession or marital status or political stance- feminism is the dream that everyone has an equal opportunity, that the sexes are treated equally. It doesn't mean you can't say "oh my god, he/she is so hot." Because I mean c'mon, have you seen Jesse Williams? It means that you cannot assume someone is inferior to you based on their gender or sexuality.

Sara Ramirez said, "I've never been very cookie cutter. If I choose something different from the status quo, it's my responsibility and my choice to live my life that way." If not me and us, who? If not now, when? My feminism might not be for everyone, because some think those who have twisted feminism represent us all. But they don't. Each woman has a different definition of feminism, but those who represent true feminism are courageous and break the status quo, and all base their definitions on equality.