Feminism. I can’t remember the exact point during the rollercoaster of adolescence when I started to label myself a Feminist. Although the transition from the couched world of childhood, to the big, bad, tax-paying world of adulthood may seem like the longest and most drawn out period of your life (for me, anyway), it’s easy to generalise that everything so inherently wrong with the world becomes apparent when you hit 16, 18, or 21. In reality, it’s a lot more complicated than that.
It took me a while to make sense of a seemingly unconnected series of moments that I just couldn’t put my finger on as to why they felt so “off”. Why did I feel so mortified in High School when my peers saw the hairs on my legs when I was getting changed for PE, and why did they feel that something completely natural was so deviant? It goes without saying that finding your sexuality can be a struggle for any teen; but why was being called a ‘Lesbian’ implicitly regarded as one of the worst possible insults that a 15 year old girl could face?
Your personal and school-based experiences are only half of it. Sexism isn’t merely the fodder of half- assed, High School taunts, that your peers see sense of and mature out of. Of course not. It exists in the inanimate form too. Imagine you step out of your front door and suddenly you have X-ray vision. Your run-of the mill journey to campus or town or wherever you choose to frequent ends up being some sort of trippy, moving A and E show. Once you begin to open your eyes to the sheer prevalence of sexism embedded into all aspects of our culture, from that deodorant advert on the side of the bus shelter to an aisle of children’s toys in a department store, like that x-ray dog on a leash, it’s really hard to miss (check out Laura Bates’ ‘Everyday Sexism project’ if you’re still not convinced). With the great sense of liberation that comes with connecting these normalised occurrences, it’s also really hard not to want to speak out about it.
Although I’ve based this post quite heavily around my own personal experiences, and I am not belittling the importance in talking about our own experiences, I want to make it clear that this blog isn’t merely a cathartic space for myself. I want to re-examine hotly-debated issues that a generation of 3rd and 2nd wave feminists argued for, many of which are sadly still ongoing problems today. With the sheer amount of coverage labelled “Women’s issues” in 2014 so far, (it’s not only me that feels as if there is something new every day, right?), it would be downright silly not to explore the current topics circulating the media that are affecting women at this very moment, not just in the UK, but globally.
I’m a Feminist because I believe in the equality of men and women, simple as. “But why are you called a Feminist?” If you care to find out, ‘till next time!
Image Sources:
Image 1: https://www.google.com/search?q=men+women&tbm=isch&imgil=RfTaIXsDtCFR9M%…
Image 2: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_k1HsPh3JxiU/S6q1qUG7FEI/AAAAAAAADgc/YBsk7QOQ07I/s1600/pink-blue.jpg
Image 3: https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&sa=G&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSZxplCx…