Um...What?

So, I am cruising along in my check-my-email mode when an article catches my eye: Feminists Have More Fun.

OOooo. Interest peaked.

So I go and read, this article based on a review of an academic, peer reviewed journal (for those non-information buffs, this usually means that the information/research/methodology is credible) and my eyes bug out of my head. Not because of the premise that feminist men and women tend to have better relationships, a more satisfactory sex life, laugh more, etc. Well yeah. I mean, if you view your partner as someone equal to you as opposed to a subhuman, you might connect with them better, yes?

But I am thinking most folks don't even know what feminism is. Check out this quote:

"Along with the sexually unattractive stereotype, some women also view feminism as a movement for victims, or for women who aren't competent enough to achieve success on their own merit, according to the Rutgers University researchers." (emphasis mine)

WhatwhatWHAT?????

Do people really THINK that? Oh. My. God. It is education time. This statement excludes men completely. My partner is a feminist. I wouldn't have even had a second date with him if he didn't think I was just as much of a person as he was. Feminism is a movement for victims? I guess I might be able to understand why a person who would take a cursory look from the outside might think this. A lot of women who have been victimized by male violence might be feminists. Because, you know, the lack of egalitarian attitudes contribute to rape and domestic violence. Right? Doesn't everyone know this?

But that women who are feminists are weak? They can't do anything on their own merit? These people obviously don't know any feminists. Granted, there are the pushy big shouldered broads in the world (I occasionally aspire to be one). But I know women who are so pleasant and funny and beautiful and educated. Women who have this amazing perception and level of intelligence, who are the most accomplished people I have ever come in contact with (and my university career is nothing to be sneezed at). These women are feminists. Believing that men and women are equal and deserve the same opportunities does not make you dumb or weak or incompetent. It makes you human.

Gloria Steinem once said if you are a woman, you are either a feminist or a masochist. Because no matter what a woman might think about feminists, we are still out there fighting for her right to have children when she deems it appropriate, to be able to buy whatever birth control method she chooses at her local pharmacy without discrimination, to have a life free of gender-based violence, to be able to speak out and be heard and be educated and go to whatever damn golf club she chooses.

So, here's to the uninitiated. Here's to reclaiming the word Feminist. I am one, you know. It makes me a better mother, a better partner, a better person, and a better citizen. And every single day, I fight to make this world a better place for my children and yours.

Because I am a Feminist.