Feminism is Highly Misunderstood

When you hear the word "feminism", what image and emotion come to mind? When you hear the word, does it make you think of only pro-choice, or abortion? Does the word make you think of radicalism? Does it make you think of anti-male thoughts and/or male-bashing? What else does this word make you think of? The word to this author has multiple connotations. First, feminism, in its purest form, is derived from "female." It is a consciousness-raising term denoting all things pertaining to females. It is a celebration of the many varied forms of femininity expressed. Feminism is a term also that expresses the unity of women worldwide. The term separates females from males, and identifies the social, political, spiritual, emotional, cultural, and physical differences women have, and must face everyday. Feminism also acknowledges from the previous sentence that we have struggles in the arenas mentioned. Freedom, liberty, equality, fairness, proper parity, sound education, good job pay, and sound political representation as women are still a distance away from us, even in the United States, and more so outside this country. We are reminded that gender discrimination, rights to make our own informed choices on various issues (and we don't even have to discuss abortion here), sexual harrassment, sexual predators, and violence against women are far from solved. We also have too many women in poverty. Just last week, here in the United States this author learned of the tragic and horrible conditions/treatment women deal with when living in polygamist communities where teenage girls and young women become a man's property and subject to his abuses. Learning about this tells us that our fight for women's dignity is not over. Making sure that all women obtain excellent, unbiased, competent medical diagnoses with top-notch health care is part of our struggle. Making sure that women and girls worldwide are not denied equal and fair school education is paramount for us feminists. The focus of this posting shows that you can be a feminist by fighting all the human rights denial that we face daily, and our sisters worldwide have had stolen from them. Please remember that feminism should never be about one facet of women's issues. Getting involved to stop hunger, poverty, disease, providing jobs for women, education, and health care does mean you are a feminist--a practical feminist. We cannot discriminate and blame men for all the problems--we have to get after women who look the other way, who do cause other women harm. We must get involved! Being a feminist is NOT a bad thing--it benefits all of us. Being a feminist means being a leader for helpless, impoverished, under-educated, and abused women who don't get a voice for themselves in many parts of the world. Take action, not a seat; take a role, not an excuse; take heart, not hopelessness--we can and we will make a better, safer world for all our sisters--only if YOU do YOUR part in the sisterhood.