I am a Feminist
Posted September 15, 2014 by Prairie Wife - 6 comments
Close your eyes and get a picture in your mind of a feminist…what she looks like and how she acts. For me first I see a long haired hippy with hairy armpits carrying a sign about equal pay. Then I think of a pulled together CEO presenting an idea. Finally, I see a working mom balancing everything perfectly with a clean house, perfect kids, stunning happy husband, supportive friends, and shiny full hair.
Feminists have been loud and proud in the news lately. With battles over woman’s reproductive rights and equal pay getting top billing on TV, woman all over America are standing up and shaking their fists at injustice. I don’t know about you but have you noticed that the battle has started to become a little aggressive towards mothers? I read a blog post the other day by a self proclaimed proud feminist and she says “Do people really think that a stay at home mom is really on equal footing with a woman who works and takes care of herself? There’s no way those two things are the same.” …well ouch….
Plus with all these battles about reproductive rights I’m a little tired of hearing that having children holds woman back from achieving their dreams and being as productive to society as they could without their little life sucking children…double ouch…
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a feminist as “a person who supports feminism” and describes feminism as “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.”
By this definition I am a feminist! Me, a stay at home mother of 4 children (with one more on the way). The lady who put her sweat pants on backwards this morning and didn’t notice until my neighbor came over hours later. My day yesterday consisted of waking up and feeding children, taking children to school, going to the store, homeschooling one child, feeding children, cleaning up from feeding children, naptime, picking kids up from school, playing with children, helping with homework while cooking for children, eating with children, cleaning up the house with children, bathing children, snuggling with children, throw a few diaper changes in throughout the day, praying and singing with children, and then finally some time in bed on my own with a book! Notice a theme there? It’s children…
Nowhere in the definition of feminist does it say anything about a woman who has a job outside the home. It says nothing about children! I am a feminist because I support the idea that men and woman should have equal rights. No one should be held back from achieving their dreams based on what sex they are. I support other woman in achieving their dreams, and refuse to allow my daughter to be kept from achieving her dreams simply because she is a woman. If she wants to be a dentist, a fashion designer, or doctor I want her to set out and get it done, and be just as valued as any man in the job. If she wants to get married and quit her job, follow her husband around the world and never have children, I say go for it! And if she wants to be like her mom and after a few years in the professional world, she wants to leave it all behind to have babies and rock her backwards sweats and a pony tail…I say you go girl!
Let’s take a deep breath ladies (and men, they can be feminists too) and remember that feminism is about supporting other woman to achieve their dreams, not forcing your dream on someone else.
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6 thoughts on "I am a Feminist"
Categories: Life As It Happens, Prairie Life
Tags: , Femanist, Feminism, motherhood, opinion, Prairie Wife Life, support
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Might I (politely) suggest the last sentence might better read “…feminism is about supporting other PEOPLE to achieve their dreams, not forcing your dream on someone else.” I consider myself a feminist-from-birth !!!! 😉
Women should have the right to choose to stay home or work. I see that many women create lives based on “feministic” ideals that say we have to work to add value to the world. Later they realize they would rather raise their own children, but have to reorganize their finances and identity in order to do so. Staying at home is really a luxury in most households now, and labeling SAHMs as non-feminists could possibly stem from jealousy. It is sad to me. I wish every woman could truly choose, without worry of money or judgement, and follow her heart. I think that makes me a feminist as well. I could write so much more! Very thought provoking!
Well said lady :))
I feel indebted to the women who came before me and fought for the rights that women have today. Because of them I was able to make the choice to be a stay at home mom. It’s about having the rights and being able to choose, not about the decision you make.
As much as I would have enjoyed maintaining my identity/job outside of taking care of the house, meals, shopping, yard, kids and animals, feminism to me doesn’t look like having to do most of what’s mentioned above in addition to working a full-time job. If being over-stressed and overworked and exhausted all the time beyond what I already am means feminism, then I want nothing to do with it. But I have the choice, and that is what the root of feminism is: most women do have the choice albeit one salary also means more sacrifice in a different direction. I see hard-working women who have all taken different paths everywhere I look: at the same time, I feel most judged by women whose work outside of the home doubles as an escape from the frustrations and challenges being a stay-at-home mom presents…
I so agree with you. Feminism is about attitude, not circumstances 🙂