ThreadingWater

There’s been a spate of blogging lately on the topic of feminism and what it means to employ that label for one’s self or others.  Some excellent writers and thinkers have had cogent and differing viewpoints on the topic.

Unfortunately, the discussion devolves elsewhere to something like the blog post I came across entitled “I’d Rather Be Feminine Than a Feminist.”  (I’m not linking to it because it’s just too ridiculous). The argument implied by the post title is a classic false choice;  a woman can choose to be feminine or a feminist, but never both.

Is that really what the choice comes down to?

Our male dominated world is filled with false choices that are so embedded in our psyche, we truly believe we have chosen for ourselves what, in truth, has been determined for us.  Our cultural standards of beauty, our sexual conduct in public and in private, what we wear, when we wear it, what we show and when we show it, our notions of motherhood, our relationships with men and women in the workplace, our assumed roles as homemakers, caregivers, helpmates, peacemakers – all of this has been handily manipulated by governments, institutions, corporations and organized religions dominated by men. 

If you want to believe that you have freely chosen to shave your legs or put on lipstick or parade about in a sexed-up Halloween costume as some form of female “empowerment,”  then I say you’re just not paying attention.  

Feminism requires that I pay attention.  It provides a framework for discourse, analysis, and examination.  Feminism makes me think.

If I still shave and wear makeup and heels, I don’t kid myself into thinking I’ve freely chosen these outward manifestations of femininity.  Feminism is a political ideology that continues to shape my evolution as a person.  I may not be where I’d like to be yet, and for that reason I find it useful to question my motives and examine my decisions about all of that feminine cloaking and trapping that engages most of us to some extent.   

And just when I begin to think it’s all a bit tedious and inconsequential, I’m reminded that it isn’t.  Even fashion, after all, kills.

Considering the general state of women in the world today - the growing numbers of us who are being mutilated, murdered, poisoned, exploited and abused – there is an urgent need for feminists to speak out and engage in political action.    

By thinking and questioning and acting as feminists, for the betterment of women, children and the men who love us, we might finally be able to discover what it means to be feminine.  Because, when femininity really and truly reflects our nature and sensibilities as fully engaged and respected citizens of the world, we will have real choices and we will be free to exercise those choices.

That’s why I’d rather be a feminist.