My Kind of Feminism

I am proud to call myself a feminist- I am an independent, intelligent, successful single CF woman who refuses to surrender to the Life Script of beauty, babies, and body-hatred that seems to be the only motivation for today's women. It really saddens me when I hear a young woman say "I'm not a feminist", and flee to the false promise of 'surrendered women'.

I make a distinction of what sort of feminist I am: I am an equity feminist. This means that I believe, support, and promote the basic premise that men and women are peers, can do many of the same things, and if given the
opportunity, can rise to the same level. I believe in the BALANCE of the genders, not the domination of one over the other. This is essential- balance promotes growth, intelligence, and the full utilization of the unique gifts each of us has. The original suffragists- Cady, Anthony, and all, were equity feminists- they wanted the same rights as men. This included marriage, property, and especially reproductive choice. It was their hard work and sacrifice that got us the vote, the ability to sign a loan without a man, and contraception and legalized abortion.

Gender feminists, on the other hand, are the ones who now dominate academia, who believe that men are patriarchal pigs, and the most radical ones would love to see men either dead, or submissive as women are today. The word
'balance' is not in their book. When most lay people think of feminists, this is the radical sort they have in mind. Many of these women have been badly hurt by men, but they are stuck in a rage state, and are unable to
break out of it. All men become 'the enemy', as well as women who interact with them. Because their ideology dominates academia, 'feminists' who leave their fold and go on to do public work have been poisoned by their anti-male sentiments, and do more damage than good.

This really saddens me. Gender feminists have done more damage than they can imagine with their woman=mother and their alienation of single and childfree women and their demonization of men. Men are not scum, and women are not baby factories. Motherhood is a CHOICE, not a goal. A balanced interaction between the genders would actually create fewer and better parents, because women would not be forced to compromise because they were not taught that they don't need a man or baby to 'complete' themselves. Parenthood would be CHOSEN, not accidentally blundered into, used as a man-trap, or an enslaving device or an attention-getter or accessory. Children would be well raised, not worshipped, and adults would be the true majority.

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