In response to the letter entitled "I am not a feminist, and that's OK," I would like to say that not being a feminist is most certainly not OK. Feminism does not mean that a woman is not allowed to stay home and take care of her children. Feminism does not mean that you want to take on the power of your husband. Feminism means you believe that men and women are equal in every sense of the word.
Why is this definition so difficult to understand? I mean, it's right there in any dictionary you can possibly possess (unless you own a dictionary from before the 1900s in which case I would advise you to update your sources.)
People seem to misinterpret the feminist cause because they believe that feminists must hate all men. No where in the definition of feminism does it say "a feminist must hate men for they are the spawn of satan." Just as a little side-note PSA, hating men is misandry not feminism. Not every feminist is a militant-down-with-the-patriarchy feminist and thats fine. Just like there are varying degrees of political affiliations or sexuality, there are varying degrees of feminism. However, to call yourself a non-feminist in today's society is like calling for women to be barred from poles this election season –– in other words, stripped of the rights that generations before us worked so damn hard to win. Ms.Sankey, do you understand that your ability to publish an article and share your opinions online was won for you by feminists of previous generations? Just some food for thought.
I think being a stay at home mom is an honorable profession and there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to watch your children grow. However, you can be both a stay at home mom and a feminist because the only prerequisite for feminism is believing that men and women are equal.
On that note, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being a professional woman and a mother. My mom works harder than anyone I know and she has been one of the biggest support systems in my life. She didn't miss my childhood because she knows how to time manage. She was at every one of my school functions and events. In essence, she was a PTA mother while working 15 hours a day. She's the reason I strive to be a strong, professional woman, and mother.
Of course, that's not for everyone, but by saying you're not a feminist, you are working against women like myself and my mother. You're saying that women should not have the same rights as men. You're saying that we should go back to when women weren't allowed to speak their minds in public –– a time when women were meant to be seen and not heard. By stating that you're not a feminist, you are saying that you wouldn't mind women being stripped of your humanity and seen, once more, as objects.
One of your points was that God made women as more fragile beings because he wanted women to stay home and be taken care of by men. I'm sorry, but women go through the pain of child birth and you think that we, as a sex, are fragile?! That blows my mind. When was the last time a man had to deal with period cramps? When was the last time a white man was told that his sex kept him from getting equal pay? When was the last time that a white man was told that he wouldn't get a promotion or executive position because of his sex? Women are some of the strongest people on this planet. We deal with obstacles, pain and emotional degradation, and we continue in the face of these unfortunate everyday occurrences. Not all women are stronger physically then men in terms of muscle mass, but what the majority lack in physical strength, we make up for in determination, ambition, and mental strength.
There's nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home mom, but there's everything wrong with saying that you, as a woman, are not a feminist.
