I’m a feminist.
I’m a woman.
I’m a bad cook.
I’m a fabulous cookie baker.
I’m a sexual being.
I’m a nurturer.
I’m a laugher.
I’m a crier.
I’m a writer.
I’m a sing-a-longer.
I’m a cleaner.
I’m a Mac user.
I’m a skirt wearer.
I’m a stick shift driver.
I’m a cat AND dog lover.
I’m a recovering packrat.
I’m a genuine “good game”er.
I’m a feeder.
I’m an eater.
I’m a klutz.
I’m a knitter.
I’m a farm girl.
I’m a city girl.
I’m a former scooter girl (miss you, Piglet).
I’m a worrier.
I’m a lover.
I’m a defender.
I’m a “wake me up if you get sick in the night”er.
I’m a debater.
I’m a teacher.
I’m a listener.
I’m a talker.
I’m a bullshit caller.
I’m a Westerner.
I’m a Partner of South Asian.
I’m a learner.
I’m a researcher.
I’m a reader.
I’m a people watcher.
I’m a helper.
I’m a daughter.
I’m a friend.
I’m a sister.
I’m an aunt.
I’m a granddaughter.
I’m a future mother.
I’m a wife.
I’m a helpmeet.
I’m a woman.
I’m a feminist.
My feminism is intricately woven into the fabric of who I am. My partner is Indian and is also a feminist (though he’s still working on being 100% comfortable with that term). Mom never told me that she was a feminist, but she taught me how to be a powerful woman, while maintaining grace, openness, and give-a-damn about others that I have yet to see matched. Ma is a feminist in her own way, and thus reportedly clashed with her own MIL (who was also a feminist in her own way).
My feminism is not about whether I plan to stay home with my children or what level of education I am pursuing. My feminism is about believing I am blessed to be surrounded by strong women. My feminism is about believing my husband is blessed to have a strong woman as his partner. My feminism is about believing I am blessed to have a partner who values and helps hone my strength. My feminism is about believing I am who I am, and not being afraid of the gentle or the strong in me, or of the dirty word “feminist.”
Who are you?
I hear you sister..and I’m a feminist too, and a proud one at that !! I don’t care what connotation the word has come to have, without feminists none of the women in world would have any of the rights/freedoms they have today. I hope that one day every women in this world is a feminist, because to me being a feminist means a strong woman who can stand up for her rights…So I’m proud to say…”I’m a feminist…hear me roar” !!!
Roooooaaaaaaaaar!
I’d love to read a post about how feminist and Desi identities intersect (and/or how that’s changed with life changes, like getting married, moving to the US/Canada, job changes, having a child, etc.).
Aahh…what a brilliant idea…I might do just that…but it’ll have to wait some, as I’m already working on 2 posts currently…I was writing a post about raising a child in the western society, but stopped midway to write my thoughts about the latest mumbai terror attack…so till those are done…I can’t focus on another topic…but a great topic for sure…:))
I don’t really fit into the category of a feminist, never considered myself as one. But I’m definitely a free spirit and I always make independent decisions. Previous generations of feminists surely deserve a ‘thank you’, but I think the job is done by now, instead of fighting I can just be myself without external approval.
Intercultured, how would you describe a feminist? I see the word being so broad, it’s hard for me to imagine any woman not fitting in!
I definitely agree with Anjali’s response below about feminism being about everyday women rather than fighting. My original response was a veeeeery long description of why I identify as feminist…so I decided to break it into a different post, because it is really about me, rather than a true response to you.
True. I was thinking about feminism looking at my own country where feminists today are often just very loud women with equally loudly expressed hate for men.
I don’t hate men. I leave them in peace. So, that was the part I didn’t really fit into.
But if you define feminism as simply being an independent woman… then sure… I’m all in!
I don’t think being a feminist is about fighting, that is what the world signifies now, but in reality, most women who are feminists are just your average everyday women, many of whom wouldn’t even call themselves feminists for the same reason that feminists = aggressive fighting women , but I feel anyone who is a self-respecting woman, who is comfortable with who she is, and is not in search of social or familial validation for her actions, and has an idea of how she can and can-not be treated is a feminist,
In my eyes my mom is a very big feminist, much more than me (even though she may disagree), to see her, she’s a very shy, introverted woman, but the way she raised two independent thinking, confident women, telling us that we are no less than a man (without ever actually saying it) and we can do and be anything we set out to, is a job no one but a feminist can do. The confidence she gave us to face the world, has stayed with us, long after we left her house. So my definition of feminist is a strong, confident woman, who needs no external validation, that’s all, not someone who fights and is a in your face kind of confrontational woman.
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