Happy Women's History Month to anyone who has ever identified as a woman!
My earliest memory of feminism had to be through the main three women in my life while growing up: my mom and my two older sisters. More specifically, the constant memory of going in between a room full of toys and a room dedicated to watching this week's episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I used to be anti-girl I wanted to be the tomb boy in the bunch, the only yellow power ranger in the group of elementary schoolers. I despised the color pink and would have a meltdown if I was given attention or had a camera pointed at me for a smile. I grew into a straight up snoody middle schooler who thought I was cool and different because I was watching Buffy while everyone else watched Pretty Little Liars. "Preps" was a term that regularly appeared in my vocabulary in the most negative way possible. I was not looking at the correct definition of feminism.
According to the dictionary feminism is "the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes." However, it reaches far beneath the surface. Feminism is not just the equality between sex or gender, it is the equality between all who identify as a woman. I was not a feminist because I thought I was better than the girls in the middle school courtyard who wore over-sized t-shirts with fluffy Ugg boots. I started to display what it meant to be a real feminist when I realized that labels were irrelevant. The cheerleader does not exist anymore nor does the shy modes girl hiding in the corner. There isn't a dumb blonde or school slut. They were always just girl with interests that we labeled in a higher standard, even though everyone is trying to be different just like everyone else. No "that girl". Get rid of the label, get rid of the judgement.
It was easy to fall under the belief that I was better because I "wasn't like other girls", I mean, Buffy became a better person when she became the Slayer as opposed to the cheerleader she had been before. The mean girls were the ones in pink who had make-up and expensive clothes. The hero was the quiet girl at the beginning who was able to have an interesting character development that would usually result in the girly-girl finally being put in her place.
This is for the middle school girl who gets annoyed when she liked that band before it was cool:
Get over yourself.
You are as great and wonderful and spectacular as every girl before you and as every girl after you. Let her buy the latest Lulu Lemons, she is not a sheep. Your mom jeans are not going to be made fun of, trust me. No one cares that deeply. Maybe some will comment on it, but that's life, get over yourself. Eventually there won't be bullies and people won't be mean, but you were being mean too. To be a feminist, allow girls to be any stereotype they please that isn't harming anyone or themselves. Feminism is not limited to the gender equality of different sexes, it's for the equality of your own gender.
It's your right to become president, but it is also your right to be a stay at home mom if that's what you chose. Allow girls and women to be who they want to be. If it doesn't live up to your standard of what it means to be a feminist then you are simply not one.
A Woman to Love, A Woman to Know:
Amandla Stenberg is the 20 year old American actress who has been a huge voice in activism. While her acting career is best known for her role in "The Hunger Games" as District 11's young Rue as well as the lead in movies such as "Everything, Everything" and "The Hate U Give", she has become even more noteworthy due to her strive for equality among gender, race, and sexual orientation. She has been interviewed and has interview for Teen Vogue where she has proposed the question
"Feminism has undergone different waves in our society, and I feel like it's less about equality between the sexes today and more about liberating people from any type of discrimination caused by patriarchy- do you agree?"
To learn more about Amandla, I encourage you to follow her on the social media platform Instagram where she goes by the username @amandlasponsored.
