Writer's Block: It’s Women’s Equality Day!
I would really like to see women respect other women. For me being a feminist means supporting my fellow women and giving them equal respect. What does that mean? A few examples-
1. Respecting the right to choose- I do believe in keeping abortion legal. I personally have no desire to use that method, but I don't feel it's right to shame a woman for choosing abortion or taking that option away from her. The women before us suffered so much because they didn't have control of their bodies and so much went into fighting for that right. We don't know the reasons of every woman who walks into a clinic, and nor do we deserve an explanation. But just read the news and I'm sure you can think of a few reasons why abortion should be kept legal- abuse, rape, incest, cases where the pregnancy endangers mother and child. The least we can do is respect one another and civilly agree to disagree if we don't see eye to eye. Besides, making abortion illegal will just mean it will go back underground. Remember that scene in Dirty Dancing? Yeah... that's what we'll go back to.And honestly, abortion is such a personal issue. It should remain something private to be decided amongst the parties involved. Do you like it when a busy body comes into your business and tells you what to do?
2. Respecting that we all want different things- Some women want a career, others want family and some want it all. Most women today have a career and family, and yet there seem to be some women who think you must be a housewife and have kids and you're not a woman if you don't. And there are women who look down upon housewives and pride themselves on their career. We would all get along better if we could just acknowledge that not all women are the same, we don't all want the same thing, and we should encourage each other to go for the things we want, whatever that might be. Unless it's something like marrying your DS, because that's a whole other problem entirely.
3. Not shaming other women for how they dress- This is something I think we are all guilty of at some point or other. Whether it's a sense of female competition, jealousy, or feeling inadequate and wanting to boost our own egos, we all shame another woman at some point in our life or put them down (publicly or in our heads). And for various reasons too. Whether it's a "girly girl" or a "tom boy" or a "slut." We all have different styles and different things make us happy. Slut shaming, in particular, is a problem. As a cosplayer, I see it constantly. The truth of the matter is, we seldom take one look at a guy, observe the top button of his shirt undone and go "slut." But how many times do we take one look at a girl, how she is dressed, and without knowing anything about her or her circumstances, we make that instant judgement? I'm sure a couple of girls looked at me in my Beast costume and thought "slut" or probably thought I was there for male attention. The guys certainly thought so. But in truth, I just really like Beast's character and wanted to show my support for one of the most awesome female characters in what's essentially a BL manga. o.0
And if some girls really are "sluts" then, so what? Guys have gotten away with it for centuries. Go back 100 years and that sort of thing could still ruin a woman and really mess up her chances at making a respectable living. To only shame girls for that sort of behavior is giving in to that old fashioned mentality. Shake it off and stop buying into double standards. :) In short, respect your fellow women. And don't think for a minute that a woman can't be a misogynist too.
1. Respecting the right to choose- I do believe in keeping abortion legal. I personally have no desire to use that method, but I don't feel it's right to shame a woman for choosing abortion or taking that option away from her. The women before us suffered so much because they didn't have control of their bodies and so much went into fighting for that right. We don't know the reasons of every woman who walks into a clinic, and nor do we deserve an explanation. But just read the news and I'm sure you can think of a few reasons why abortion should be kept legal- abuse, rape, incest, cases where the pregnancy endangers mother and child. The least we can do is respect one another and civilly agree to disagree if we don't see eye to eye. Besides, making abortion illegal will just mean it will go back underground. Remember that scene in Dirty Dancing? Yeah... that's what we'll go back to.And honestly, abortion is such a personal issue. It should remain something private to be decided amongst the parties involved. Do you like it when a busy body comes into your business and tells you what to do?
2. Respecting that we all want different things- Some women want a career, others want family and some want it all. Most women today have a career and family, and yet there seem to be some women who think you must be a housewife and have kids and you're not a woman if you don't. And there are women who look down upon housewives and pride themselves on their career. We would all get along better if we could just acknowledge that not all women are the same, we don't all want the same thing, and we should encourage each other to go for the things we want, whatever that might be. Unless it's something like marrying your DS, because that's a whole other problem entirely.
3. Not shaming other women for how they dress- This is something I think we are all guilty of at some point or other. Whether it's a sense of female competition, jealousy, or feeling inadequate and wanting to boost our own egos, we all shame another woman at some point in our life or put them down (publicly or in our heads). And for various reasons too. Whether it's a "girly girl" or a "tom boy" or a "slut." We all have different styles and different things make us happy. Slut shaming, in particular, is a problem. As a cosplayer, I see it constantly. The truth of the matter is, we seldom take one look at a guy, observe the top button of his shirt undone and go "slut." But how many times do we take one look at a girl, how she is dressed, and without knowing anything about her or her circumstances, we make that instant judgement? I'm sure a couple of girls looked at me in my Beast costume and thought "slut" or probably thought I was there for male attention. The guys certainly thought so. But in truth, I just really like Beast's character and wanted to show my support for one of the most awesome female characters in what's essentially a BL manga. o.0
And if some girls really are "sluts" then, so what? Guys have gotten away with it for centuries. Go back 100 years and that sort of thing could still ruin a woman and really mess up her chances at making a respectable living. To only shame girls for that sort of behavior is giving in to that old fashioned mentality. Shake it off and stop buying into double standards. :) In short, respect your fellow women. And don't think for a minute that a woman can't be a misogynist too.