I am a FEMINIST!

  I am a feminist.  A loud and proud feminist.  No I don’t grow my armpit and leg hair.  No I am not a lesbian.  No I don’t hate men.  And I wouldn’t say I fit into all the other stereotypes you think of when someone says they are a feminist.  I’m simply a feminist.  I don’t know the precise moment I had this epiphany; maybe it’s something that’s been with me all along.  But at nineteen I can safely say I am one. 

  When I tell people I’m a feminist, I usually just get a nod and an uncomfortable smile.  Other times people wonder if I’m a lesbian, hate men and sometimes I get asked if I grow my armpit hair.  I answer no to all the above.  (Though occasionally I leave my armpit hair when I just can’t be bothered to shave and find something much more interesting to do instead). 

  But the truth is anyone can be a feminist.  Young or old, woman or man.  Feminism is for everybody that believes in and desires equality for all human beings.  Feminism is about fighting for what you believe in and fighting for what is right.  To me feminism is fighting for equality, for everyone, and having fun whilst doing so!  Feminism is fighting to end oppression in society.  It is about choice, respect, autonomy, peace and about being heard. 

  Harriet Woods, who was an American politician and activist, and was Missouri’s first and so far only female Lieutenant Governor, once said; “you can stand tall without standing on someone.  You can be a victor without having victims.”  That is what I want.  I want people to stand tall and confident with what they believe in and who they are.  We will be victorious and someday we will have equality for all. 

  Germaine Greer once wrote a book titled The Female Eunuch and in it she suggests that the reader take a moment to taste their own menstrual blood.  As a feminist I don’t feel like I need to do this and I won’t be.  After all, I have a choice.  And that is what I will keep fighting for.