I am a Feminist

WE SHOULDN’T LET THE IDEAS OF A BEAUTIFUL CULTURE AFFECT US TOO MUCH BECAUSE FAR BETTER THAN BEAUTY IS THE ENDEARING CONCEPT OF BEING INTERESTING. –Darling Magazine

I am a feminist. Not the bra burning, man hating kind. Those are annoying. (And frankly, it totally hurts their cause when they are that man hating. I mean seriously. Come on). Im the “girls can do anything” kind of feminist. I think the term “Feminist” means different things for different generations. Thankfully, Title IX happened long before I was around to play sports and we are witnessing women doing more and more things (Did you all see the women who completed the Ranger training?!?!? How kick ass is that? Although even after they went through the rigorous training/testing, they cannot participate combat Ranger roles. WTF US. Army?) People asked if the course standards were lowered for the female soldiers. That was one of the first questions!!! Why on earth is that even a question?? We obviously have a long way to go.

When I say that I’m feminist, I mean that I am a firm and ardent believer that women can do anything. We can be the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, a world leader, small business owner, mayor, astronaut, engineer, a scientist or a stay at home mom. More importantly, we can be a leader in any field, and have kids. I think we are getting better at accepting that, but becoming pregnant can still cause problems and setbacks in a women’s career. Why is it that the United States has the worst numbers when it comes to giving mothers maternity leave. Accenture is amazing and gives 12 paid weeks off, plus the paid time off stills accrues which means you basically earn another week while you are out. Add that to any PTO that you saved and you can have a nice, long leave. The problem is that policy is rare.  I obviously have ZERO experience, but I highly doubt shoving a lifeform out of your body isn’t exactly pleasant and recovery isn’t instant.

When I say that I’m a feminist, I mean that I want to see the unattainable images of women completely shattered. I want to see “brains” outweigh “beauty”. I hate that beautiful and smart seems to be thought of as the exception. The word “genius” is a male word. How often do we hear it applied to a woman? If it is, it is viewed as another exception. Much like the idea of a tom-boy. If a girl likes to get dirty, wear pants, doesn’t like to paint her nails, etc. she is given a label that has boy right in it! Why can’t a girl be more than a creature that applies makeup, paints her nails and shops?

When I say that I’m a feminist, I mean that I want to see a change in some guy’s attitudes regarding women. Why are woman traits/body parts used in a negative way to describe men? Excuse my language, but it is necessary to get my point across. If a guy is being a scaredy-cat or something to that effect, he is called a pussy. To a much lesser extent… un-athletic guys are told they “throw like a girl”. (there are so many more… so many) Even the phrase “Grow a Pair” is giving positive traits (strength, boldness, etc) to the male genitals. It definitely doesn’t mean to grow a pair of boobs.

When I say that I am a feminist, I mean that women should breastfeed in public. I mean come on people who are uncomfy with that… you all see more boobage in everyday media and at Walmart than you do when a woman is breastfeeding. Honestly, I don’t know if I would want to, but hey… a kid has got to eat and there is ZERO harm in it. And most of the time there is a tent thing…. Hello you cant even see anything.

When I say I am a feminist, I mean that I see gender roles with toys…. It starts instantly. As soon as the parents announce the sex, half of the toys on the market goes out of the window. Boys get cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, boats, superheroes, blue things, and building blocks. Girls get pastels, flowers, everything pink, dolls, play kitchens, vacuum cleaners, castles, dress up clothes, and princesses. Why can’t the girl get the truck? And the boy get the kitchen? I honestly buy trucks for baby girls… And there is no way that my little girl (if I have one) is getting a play makeup set. She can get heels and the cool dress up dresses though. Those are cool.

When I say that I am a feminist, I mean that I am not a fan of the Disney Princess…. Thankfully that is getting better. I was so excited when Mulan came out because she owned the rescuing business. Goodness that took long enough. Why do girls need a prince to rescue them? I can rescue myself thank you very much. Give me the sword and Ill slay the freaking dragon. They are all so dumb too... the early princesses. Sleeping Beauty (my favorite) is so naïve. Snow White is so SO dumb. Have you watched that recently? And all she does is clean. Cinderella is so freaking obedient. (By the way… that bring me to the moment that I won’t say obey in my vows. Im not obeying anyone.  I don’t care if it is mutual. I don’t want Mr. Whoever to obey me either. Ok back to princesses) Tangled was a little better. I would like a Prince to do something really stupid and have to be rescued by a princess. Then I’ll be happy.

When I say that I am a feminist… I doesn’t mean that I won’t change my name if/when I get married. I did think about it during my stint at a liberal, liberal arts school. It’s a huge identity change! Why do I have to change my name to match Mr. Whoever? Argh. I got over it though, so perhaps Rusch will someday fall off the end of Anna Glencora. (Unless I leave Rusch there and tack the new name on the end. And not use Rusch. Be Anna Glencora Rusch Whoever, but sign Anna Whoever. That’s a legit possibility. My kids won’t inherit the Rusch) I do hate addressing envelopes to married people though. Why it is “Mr. and Mrs. Guy Whoever”. Where is the girl’s name? Why can’t it just be” Mr. and Mrs. Whoever”? Or “Mr. and Mrs. Guy and Anna Whoever”. Of that looks dumb. How about “Mr. Guy and Mrs. Anna Whoever”? I don’t know… I just hate addressing envelopes and leaving out the girl’s identity.

When I say that I am a feminist, I mean that I want to see a new generation of girls being raised. A generation that speaks their mind and does it well, knows she can be absolutely anything, doesn’t need a man to define her, is intelligent, bold, unique, feisty, confident, strong, independent, problem solvers, creators, compassionate, self-sufficient and, perhaps most importantly, know how to dream.  Because they can do anything they want to do.