On Friday, we watched an incredible documentary at school. It was called Miss Representation, focusing on women's portrayal in the media and what we can do to change it. I'm confident in saying that it changed the life of everyone who watched it, but it did bring about some discussion that I was baffled by.
"Yeah, I loved the movie. It was really amazing."
"Oh, are you like, a feminist?"
"Oh no, definitely not. But it was really cool."
I go to an all-girls school. I've gone to an all-girls school for eight years. My school is wonderful because for eight years, I've watched girls attend the greatest colleges in the country because they work hard and get jobs they love because they work hard and achieve their goals because they work hard. I've watched them succeed because they are driven, confident women. They've achieved high power positions that men said they couldn't succeed at. They've made me proud to be a student here.
So why are there students at my school who don't consider themselves feminists? Here's the thing. Feminism is not a bad thing. It's not even an extreme thing. It's nothing but women wanting the same rights as men. It's women being seen as equals. That's all it is.
I asked them why they didn't consider themselves feminists, using the precise arguments I used above. Why don't you want your rights? Why don't you want equality for yourselves?
"I don't know....I mean like....it's not like that....I just like when guys hold the door open for me, you know?"
That's...manners. You can be a feminist and have someone hold the door open for you. That's just not it. I hate that there are girls at this school, this school that celebrates women and empowers women, who don't consider themselves people who want to achieve equality. Feminism is not something a woman should have to decide she is or is not. Women should be feminists, from the day they are born to the day they die, simply because THEY ARE WOMEN and THEY SHOULD PROBABLY WANT RIGHTS.
It's 2012. I'm wondering why this is even still an issue. I'm wondering why there are groups of men making health care decisions that only affect women. And I'm wondering whether America's women will make the right choice on Tuesday and not set the country back 50 years for themselves.
I love ladies. I really, really do. And ladies should love themselves too.
