Feminism Series: An Introduction

I am a feminist. I have always identified as a feminist, and I always will. I am not going to change that because some people associate the word with a certain radical “man-hating” attitude. I do regret that the word has this connotation, but the only way to change the meaning of a word is to reclaim it as your own and redefine it.

For those of you that know me, I am sure that you know that there’s not much about me that’s radical unless you consider it radical to support fellow women and strongly believe that we should have the same privileges awarded to men.

However, I do find myself affected at times by the connotation of the word “feminist.” For one, I haven’t ever posted anything on this blog about feminism for fear of not being taken seriously or almost worse being taken too seriously. But if I want to reclaim the word and begin a dialogue about the disadvantages that women face around the world, then I need to put my money where my mouth is and talk about it the best way I know how…by writing about it.

I was trying to figure out how I wanted to develop my website this summer, and in addition to posting about my adventures in St. Louis (which I definitely plan to do) I will be creating a feminist series. This will include a few of my opinions about obvious challenges that women face in society, and ones that perhaps are a little less obvious: things that we call in the world of academia, “micro aggressions.”

If you identify as a feminist, I hope that you enjoy this series and learn something new. If you don’t identify as a feminist I hope to change your mind. Enter with an open mind and an open heart.