Moxie

by Jennifer Mathieu

in this life you have to deal with what happens. You have to take what comes at you.

As I watch Lucy spin and knock her dark curls around, and as I listen to Claudia laugh and sing along (badly), it occurs to me that this is what it means to be a feminist. Not a humanist or an equalist or whatever. But a feminist. It’s not a bad word. After today it might be my favorite word. Because really all it is is girls supporting each other and wanting to be treated like human beings in a world that’s always finding ways to tell them they’re not.

Kiera posts a picture of Wonder Woman and a quote by a woman named Angela Davis. “When one commits oneself to the struggle, it must be for a lifetime.” I look her up and read about how Angela Davis was a black feminist who was imprisoned for fighting for her beliefs. It makes a walkout look pretty minor in comparison, to be honest.