“Do you consider yourself a feminist?”
This post too was hard to write, because my answer is a simple YES, and then I got stumped for what else to say about it. I just take it for granted, really. As Post-grad Panopticon says: “…it’s not something I try to make a huge fuss about. Unless someone annoys my inner feminist.”
While at uni, which seems a helluva long time ago now, I spent a lot of time reading feminist books in the library when I should have been reading for my assignments. I read everything from classics like Sisterhood is Powerful, through to Damned Whores and God’s Police, and everything else in between. (I needed to make sense of things. I read a lot of other stuff around Australian history and indigenous history and politics, too, but that’s because I was confused about all the negative messages I was getting about Aboriginal people and wanted to learn more, as a new arrival in Australia. Boy did I learn. But that’s another story.)
Unlike Kathryn, though, I don’t think I ever was particularly active in feminist causes or activities. I certainly don’t have her cred, having never been thrown out of anywhere by the police…! I’ve gone on a few marches and demonstrations over the years, but nothing recently. (I’m old. But more on that when I answer the question: Do you consider yourself to be middle-aged and is this a problem?)
I know the word feminist is a loaded one. Some people reject it as a term to describe themselves, because they consider it to have too many negative connotations. Man-hater, humourless, hairy-legged, etc. Whatever. I consider myself a feminist because men and women are equal, but many women around the world (and in our own country) are still oppressed, and I generally support actions and policies that seek to improve women’s lot.
How could I not consider myself a feminist?
Photo: Sisterhood is Powerful by Rachel Thibottumunwe/ Glasgow Women’s Library