A Peace of My Mind

cgottsch:

but I’m not afraid of “feminism” anymore.  This is actually kinda old news, but something reminded me about it and I have a point to share.

I was one of those people who associated feminism with the awful stereotypes.  I looked at only what I was familiar with and applied that to a whole.

There are people who fit that stereotype.  Believe me, I know them.  But loudness =/= size, just because all you know are the bad stereotypes doesn’t give you an excuse to apply them to the group.  I thought the word “feminism” was unsalvageable and the negative associations I made with it would never break.  As far as I was concerned, “feminism” represented something I didn’t want to be a part of.

It took someone being so nonchalant about feminism to make it “click” for me.  A simple “I support women’s rights and equality among sexes.  I support feminism.”  It occurred to me if you don’t like the associations with a word, fight to change them.  Even if it’s just defying them yourself.

I’m not saying people should stop being loud about feminsm.  It’s ok to be angry.  It’s ok to be loud.  We need those loud people, who are sick of dealing with crap.  But we need those other people, too.  We need the more reserved people to acknowledge they support feminism, and to not shy away from it, if we want those associations to change.

Words associations are almost always fluid, but true meaning often isn’t.

I support feminism.