Why did YOU become a feminist?

[Queenie]

Hello I'm Yannie, from France. I think at some point I realized that I was a feminist and that I had been one for a while and that it was a good thing. I was just not aware of it but the more I grew up the more I felt like I wanted to be part of a change. I realized that they were so many things that I wanted to talk about, things that I wanted to say out loud about rights, about women, things that were not fair that needed to change. As a biracial lesbian I realized that fighting for my rights was going to be a tough fight but I also realized that I wasn't alone and that I was part of such a strong group of people that were fighting for equal rights. I'm so thrilled to be part of this book club and to discuss with so many women and men.

[Mayia]

I am here only to vent.

I am a victim of domestic violence and I truly hate to say that I am a victim, but simply put, I was not able to fight back and that made me feel guilty, he was taller, stronger and bigger than me, now I am free and I have been reading a lot about domestic violence and, to my surprise, there are men that claim that since now there is feminism, if a woman slaps a man she deserves to be hitten or beaten or worse, raped, I just can not even imagine what it is happening through this men heads.

[Cat]

Hello!

My name is Caitlin, I'm 26 and up North in Fairbanks, Alaska.
I think I've always been a feminist, raised by parents who never told me I couldn't succeed and always pushed me to be the best I possibly could be at everything I did. They taught me to think, and to push.

It wasn't until I was older that I became aware that expectations for me were different because I'm a girl, and of all the horrible things that are done to women all over on a regular basis.

And, for me, feminism isn't just about women, it's about equality. It's past time for us as humans to stop being sh***y to each other and move forward with an open mind and respect.

[[deleted user]]

It's hard for me to name one specific moment when I became a feminist. I think part of me always was, because me parents raised me with the same opportunities as my brothers, especially when it came to education. Both my parents and both my stepparents went to university so I never felt that any school or job was out of my reach.
So, when it was about facts and figures, getting good grades, I never felt discriminated. However, when is came to discussions, I did notice some things. Boys telling you it must be your period when you disagree with them. Even my feminist mom who without noticing it herself always asked me to help clear the table at Christmas dinners "because the men are having such a nice talk" - regardless of me just having a good discussion as well. But since I pointed this out to her, my brothers have to help clear the table as well ;)
And ofcourse experiencing sexual intimidation helps you become a feminist. Having to select houses on whether it will be safe to cycle to the university from there. Men randomly coming up to you asking if the carpet matches the drapes (what made that man think that was an appropriate question?!). Receiving inappropriate Facebookmessages from co-students who later claim it was a joke by their roommates (nice roommates you've got). I could go on and on and it might all seem small but eventually it makes you feel so insecure and you realize men don't have to feel like that and you want to live in a world where you don't feel like that and look: you're a feminist.
Fortunately I'm happy to tell I was able to join a great student association, where everyone, both men and women, are feminist. It feels very safe, and it makes things so much more comfortable for everyone. This also inspires me to go on on this road and continue my own feminist education.

[Maggie]

I will follow this up with a blog on Monday, but I am often asked this.

My answer: I became a feminist upon the realization that, whether physical, mental, or emotional, everything involved in obtaining love and approval from men required some form of self-mutilation.

[Tim]

I identified myself as a feminist when it was made clear to me that it is the most logical position for me to hold as an anarchist (refering to social anarchism, not necessarily individualist anarchism and absolutely not to anarcho-capitalism because that is just one big lie). The fundamental idea of anarchism is to challenge authority and hierarchy which doesn't justify itself. Unless a justification can be given, particularly by those who excercise said authority, it should be dismantled (as anarchism is a form of libertarian socialism, this means that the ultimate goal is to also abolish the state and capitalism). Hierarchy based on gender is obviously an example of such. The problem I faced for some time, however, was that I had to be more aware of feminism and the woman's position in our current society and to recognise it as a form of hierarchy, and for that, I have youtubers Laci Green and LibertarianSocialistRants, as well as comedian George Calin, to thank. Admittedly, I did not understand anarchism very well either, before learning more of feminism, even though I still identified myself with it at the time.

[Laura]

Because I'm a woman. Because I am sick of being harassed in the streets, no matter if I wear jeans, a tracksuit or a dress. And I know I am lucky because I was born in a Western European country, which means I don' t have to face exision or forced marriage.
And then, I became a feminist so that I would not feel alone any more when I hear my own brother saying that there are jobs for men, and obs for women, and that he would like to find a woman in Marocco, because they are way more docile and ready to sacrifice themselves for their man than the French.

[Bruna]

Hello guys!
I guess that just like other people here, I've always been a feminist but I just figured out what the meaning of the word a few weeks ago. I'm a brazilian girl and here in my country violence against woman is almost considered NORMAL. I can't understand that. I'm really really really shocked with this condition. I guess this idea "woman submissive to man" is historical and that's why this has to stay in the past. The age's average of first sexual harrassment here in Brazil is 9,7 years old and the politicians here create laws which are meant to prohibit the abortion in cases like that and between the years 2001 and 2011, at least fifty thousand women were victim of feminicide. We can't live like this anymore. That's why I'm a feminist. Thanks for your attention.

[Aglaea]

Because I'm sick of unequal salaries and unequal opportunities,
sick of sexual harrassment,
sick of our lousy legal system that gives more jail time to financial offenders than rapists who destroy women's lives,
sick of domestic abuse,
sick of slut shaming,
sick of how some people connect morals and clothing,
sick of how men who want to stay at home with kids are ridiculed,
sick of patriarchy and its double standards for men and women.

I want choice. I want people not to shove their own beliefs down the throats of others. Don't believe in abortion? Fine, don't have one, but please shut your mouth about how other women should live their lives. A uterus doesn't have to be open for service 24/7, even when a vagina might be.

Oh, and the ultimate sign of a fine human being isn't one, who has "grown a pair of balls".

[David]

All the interesting women I met in college were feminists, and they educated me.

[Avid Reader and Geek Girl]

Aglaea wrote: "Because I'm sick of unequal salaries and unequal opportunities,
sick of sexual harrassment,
sick of our lousy legal system that gives more jail time to financial offenders than rapists who destroy ..."

Reply exactly!!!
I'm tired of the stupid double standards well women should be quite and polite and save themselves till marriage or they're sluts!!! BS!!!

[Amanda]

I've always been a feminist, but I didn't know what a feminist was until college.

I believed the stereotypes, I believed that feminism was about hating men and extremism and hating women who make traditional choices, and that's what much of my family still believes.

Then I went to a small Catholic University in the middle of Saint Louis where they taught me what it really means to be a feminist and a civil rights advocate and I realized that everything they taught me just matched what I already believed in. It gave me the knowledge I needed to embrace the term feminist, and that gave me the confidence to educate myself further and speak out about the things I've learned.

I've always been a feminist, I just had to learn that I was.

[Jan]

My grandmother was an amazing woman. She was a midwife who delivered over 200 babies, including my three older brothers. She was over 70 when I was born, so I was the only one of us born in a hospital. She raised 18 children, 11 of her own, and four of her brothers and sisters after her own mother died when she was 16--BUT--only her husband's name was on the family farm (purchased from her father). Her income carried the family and helped pay for the farm, but it legally belonged to her husband. Her husband had the right to leave the farm and all personal property to anyone he chose, requiring only that she have the right to live in the marital home until her death, providing that she paid the taxes and upkeep on it. (Of course, he did not do that, but he had the right to do so.) When she was 40, my grandmother was able to vote for the first time. My mother was 13 at the time. Grandma never missed voting in a local, state, or federal election until she died at 86, even during the last two years of her life when she was almost bedridden. My mother never missed voting, either. She lived to see her daughter graduate from law school and her granddaughter graduate from medical school. She used to tell me--Don't marry a doctor--BE a doctor and marry whoever you want. I'm 70 now. When I graduated in the top ten percent of my law school class, I went to work earning about half of what men with similar academic records and experience earned. I was lucky. Many of the women in my class went to work as paralegals because firms would not hire women. Things have changed a bit. Now, discrimination is illegal, but it still happens all of the time. The glass ceiling is just as bright and hard as ever--just not as blatant. The difference is that in a world where so women are at the head of single-parent families, wage discrimination results in kids growing up in poverty, and moms who, no matter how hard they try, can never be everywhere they are supposed to be. If they are with their children, they should be working. If they are working, they cannot afford top-quality care for their children. I am a feminist because history demonstrates that women and their children do best when women determine their own destiny.

[Sandra]

i don't know that i ever consciously decided to become a feminist. i do remember, however, moving from the conservative Midwest to the much more liberal Southern California beach area in my early 20's, watching women in bikinis go grocery shopping (this was before 'no shoes, no shirts, no service'), and deciding my bra was superfluous. i broke my Midwestern mold of living under my parents' roof till i was married, then moving to a place shared with my husband, by leaving home to explore life with several girlfriends. i broke the standards with which i was raised by believing i was as free as anyone else to follow my own path. so, my own belief in my equality seems to have been lying beneath the surface for as long as i can remember - it just needed the opportunity to be set loose. and, i never looked back!

[Ana]

Hi, I'm Ana, I'm a 17 year old girl from Spain.

I guess I have always been a feminist, it was just that I didn't I know that it had a name, till a saw Emma's speech in the UN. But I do remember the first time I recognised myself a feminist. It was about a year ago when in my school some guys started to organise an Easter procession, which is something very typical here in Spain, but they didn't let any girl take part in the procession to carry the Virgin Marie. So I were talking with a friend telling her how mad I where about it, and she asked me if I where a feminist, and I stopped and thought of it for a second and then answered her that I do were a feminist.

Since then I've been interested in feminism, and I've been asking myself what can I do to spread my concern about gender equality. That's why a joined this club, so I can get inspiration from you all and from the books.

[Ana]

Hi, I'm Ana, I'm a 17 year old girl from Spain.

I guess I have always been a feminist, it was just that I didn't I know that it had a name, till a saw Emma's speech in the UN. But I do remember the first time I recognised myself a feminist. It was about a year ago when in my school some guys started to organise an Easter procession, which is something very typical here in Spain, but they didn't let any girl take part in the procession to carry the Virgin Marie. So I were talking with a friend telling her how mad I where about it, and she asked me if I where a feminist, and I stopped and thought of it for a second and then answered her that I do were a feminist.

Since then I've been interested in feminism, and I've been asking myself what can I do to spread my concern about gender equality. That's why a joined this club, so I can get inspiration from you all and from the books.

[Ana]

Hi, I'm Ana, I'm a 17 year old girl from Spain.

I guess I have always been a feminist, it was just that I didn't I know that it had a name, till a saw Emma's speech in the UN. But I do remember the first time I recognised myself a feminist. It was about a year ago when in my school some guys started to organise an Easter procession, which is something very typical here in Spain, but they didn't let any girl take part in the procession to carry the Virgin Marie. So I were talking with a friend telling her how mad I where about it, and she asked me if I where a feminist, and I stopped and thought of it for a second and then answered her that I do were a feminist.

Since then I've been interested in feminism, and I've been asking myself what can I do to spread my concern about gender equality. That's why a joined this club, so I can get inspiration from you all and from the books.

[Tim]

Aglaea wrote: "Because I'm sick of unequal salaries and unequal opportunities,
sick of sexual harrassment,
sick of our lousy legal system that gives more jail time to financial offenders than rapists who destroy ..."

Agreed on all accounts, though I'm a bit unsure about your statements on financial offenders. Don't get me wrong, rape is a very heinous crime, but financial offense can put people in poverty, which can have equally devastating effects on one's life as rape. Being scammed out of money can make one frustrated as well, and frustration can in turn lead to rape, although it would obviously not be the underlining cause of it. Also, tax evasions by very wealthy people could mean withholding lots of money that could have been put to use to help the poor. Still, all your other points were on point. :)

[Gelie]

Why am I a "feminist"?
The core would be because I recognized how unfair it is not only for women but also for men that our society objectify genders and classify each other. It's like we're back to the old Athenian democratic times. (No offense of course. I only meant how their "citizens" were consist of 18 year old "men" alone.)

[Lesley]

I went to an all- girls school in Edinburgh where I lived and breathed relative 'equality' term time but returned to Bahrain in the holidays where my family lived. Bahrain was considered a 'liberal' Muslim country back then but I found it a world of mysogyny. From there I learned of the treatment of women in more fundamentalist regions. That said, my experience as a woman in Christian churches have also influenced me.

[Joana]

Hi, I'm Joana, I'm 17 and I'm from Portugal.

I don't know when I became a feminist, I guess I have always been one. I always defended equality very strongly, and that's what feminism is. When I was little, I didn't know what feminism was, not until I studied it in history classes. But then I thought "We already are equal. Woman and man have the same rights and are treated equaly". That was the environment I grew up in.
By that time I was a huge fan of Harry Potter and Emma Watson was, and still is, one of my biggest idols. I heard her talk about gender inequality and I tought "How is this possible? In the 21st century?". I think that's when I became a feminist, knowingly at least, because, as I said, I always defended equality.
After this moment, I started paying more attention to the details from my daily life that show how our society really is. The details that never seem to end. And other things, much bigger, that show how unequal our society is. How much our world needs t change.
Today, I strongly defend feminism. I get so mad when I hear some comments or popular sayings that slowly make people think woman are less than man. And I don't leave in a country where gender inequality is a constant.
I hate the fact that for some weird and unracional reason woman are not seen as equal. We should be seen as equal, because we are equal. There is no doubt about that.