Showing posts with label question. Show all posts
Showing posts with label question. Show all posts

11.10.2008

Ill Doctrine: How to Tell People They Sound Racist

Here's a useful and thought-provoking video from Jay Smooth of ill doctrine:



As I was watching this, I was thinking about how the same idea is applicable to telling someone they did or said something sexist or homophobic, and how often when I have these conversations I do exactly what Jay is telling us not to. I need to work on that.

It's really hard, though, to talk to someone about why I don't shave my legs when he's a sheltered straight man who has never had to think about these things and thinks that just because he has a dick he doesn't have to shave his legs, but just because I have a cunt, I do. Or to convince a female friend who says "I'm not a feminist, I'm an equalist" that they are the same thing. Does anyone else have strategies for talking to people who just don't get it?

11.07.2008

Why do you do what you do?

I've been thinking a lot recently about what it means to be a feminist. What is this movement really about? Is it about equality? On what scale is it about equality? What're we fighting for anymore? Are we fighting for reproductive freedom, equality for the LGBT community, and equal pay for equal labor?
Lots of questions, and the thing is, I think we're fighting for everything. As far as my opinion goes, I believe feminism stands for more than what our foremothers believed it was. It's not about voting rights, or getting out of the house and making our own lives anymore. Well, to some degree it is, but it's not a prominent battle now.

I know the reason I became a feminist. It was because I didn't want to be tied down to a stereotype, I didn't want to be told I couldn't do something just because of my sex. As a girl, I stood up for myself and my friends when seldom ever thought I would. Somehow I had the confidence to do what I thought was right, despite what many people had told me.
I knew from a young age that people should not be judged by anything external, only by who they were inside. I was also told many times by my mother that no one could control what I did with my body, and that it wasn't right when someone thought they could do things to me.

So back to my original question. What is this movement all about these days?
I don't have an exact answer since this is an incredibly broad question, but I would like to think it's about: equality for all (men, women, the LGBT community, EVERYONE), a woman's right to choose what she can do with her body, being paid equally, and standing up for what's right.
I'm curious for everyone here, why did you become a feminist? Have you always been one? What does this movement stand for these days?