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Wow….how can two people with almost opposite upbringings….be brought to a similar crossroads….Courtney has travelled such a different road than I, her view of feminism seems inspired by a combination of her journey of self realization through her parents beliefs and hopes of what could be realized, her personal journey of disillusion and remarkable respect for the advocacy struggles she witnessed through others eyes…..
Mine was born out of respect for the strength and struggle it takes to fight and advocate for one’s rights to be recognized….to no longer accept oppressive ideals, my personal resiliency and strength, and struggles to shift the paradigms of roles in relationships. My parents could not have been more different from Courtneys… while Courtneys mother inspired her with her involvement in rallys, raising her belief in herself to be anything she could be..
My mother inspired me with her commitment to family, and struggle after she had to make a brave choice to leave my father in the name of safety, and fighting the oppression and abuse. Both my mother and father never were “stuck” necessarily in traditional roles of what Men, or woman do…they got that one right, both my parents were hunters, fishers, campers dancers… if you get my drift. Both of my parents were the bread winners, My father was involved in one of them mesoginist “male” clubs, as was my grandfather and so on… (Mason’s to be more specific) I also was raised with a fairly strong belief in God, the Bible, and this has added some complexity to my journey. I thankfully am an individual thinker, and never accept things at face value. I believe man has created barriers to God in alot of ways. I always challenged the ideals, of man as the head of the family. (especially since I have not met many men in my lifetime that had the strength and integrity to be a true spiritual head, sorry guys you can prove me wrong if you want to…) Hypocrisy, and the way that as a woman leader of a college christian youth group, I wasn’t respected got me down. I was trying to organize a soup kitchen with local churches, and could not get anyone to donate their time, or their food goods until I approached the leaders of theses churches. Thankfully I am still spiritual, still have strong beliefs, but this helped me see fanaticism, for what it was and some of the ideals of these churches didn’t really fit with my beliefs and who I was becoming.
So what am I trying to say through this all… am I a feminist….
I have always struggled with this question, why because while I believe for hundreds and thousands of years women have been oppressed, they are not the only ones that have been oppressed, there are so many marginalized groups.
I believe in women’s rights yes, but believe strongly in the rights of every individual as long as these do not infringe upon the rights , or oppress anyone. So I am an advocate , plain and simple. In my work, Everywhere I go there are examples of power imbalances. My role is to help one navigate the system, that all too often does not make sense, and hopefully help even the playing ground a little by sharing knowledge of resources and supports available and if necessary blast through the barriers to equalize the playing ground .
Would I attend a rally , maybe, would I call myself a feminist, not in the traditional sense of feminism…but in my own right I believe I challenge the the oppressive ideals that have fostered barriers for women. And by the way of example, I would like to believe I am shifting the paradigm in my own life.
Though I have chosen to be a mother, a nurturer, a wife and these roles certainly have become at times obstacles to my own dreams, desires,
I am empowered now that I feel I have real choices, and real control and decisions. For some reason I felt I had very little, when I wasn't working, and wasn't bringing in a substantial income. I believe the position and roles that mothers assume, often can challenge the very ideals we try so hard to uphold. My disillusionment is with systems that fail people, not with people at all, because I have never held people on a pedestal. I believe we can each make a difference through our own lives, to be empowered, great responsible people. I believe that feminism has been a wonderful freeing vehicle for women, and am proud that woman have come so far in having their rights realized. I still feel in many ways, and in some systems there is a long road ahead. I still don't feel strongly that I can ever aspire to, and claim to be a feminist. I am a strong woman who through resiliency, intelligence, wisdom has made the decision to be an advocate for the oppressed, if that be a woman so be it, but never want to be limited to that
Mine was born out of respect for the strength and struggle it takes to fight and advocate for one’s rights to be recognized….to no longer accept oppressive ideals, my personal resiliency and strength, and struggles to shift the paradigms of roles in relationships. My parents could not have been more different from Courtneys… while Courtneys mother inspired her with her involvement in rallys, raising her belief in herself to be anything she could be..
My mother inspired me with her commitment to family, and struggle after she had to make a brave choice to leave my father in the name of safety, and fighting the oppression and abuse. Both my mother and father never were “stuck” necessarily in traditional roles of what Men, or woman do…they got that one right, both my parents were hunters, fishers, campers dancers… if you get my drift. Both of my parents were the bread winners, My father was involved in one of them mesoginist “male” clubs, as was my grandfather and so on… (Mason’s to be more specific) I also was raised with a fairly strong belief in God, the Bible, and this has added some complexity to my journey. I thankfully am an individual thinker, and never accept things at face value. I believe man has created barriers to God in alot of ways. I always challenged the ideals, of man as the head of the family. (especially since I have not met many men in my lifetime that had the strength and integrity to be a true spiritual head, sorry guys you can prove me wrong if you want to…) Hypocrisy, and the way that as a woman leader of a college christian youth group, I wasn’t respected got me down. I was trying to organize a soup kitchen with local churches, and could not get anyone to donate their time, or their food goods until I approached the leaders of theses churches. Thankfully I am still spiritual, still have strong beliefs, but this helped me see fanaticism, for what it was and some of the ideals of these churches didn’t really fit with my beliefs and who I was becoming.
So what am I trying to say through this all… am I a feminist….
I have always struggled with this question, why because while I believe for hundreds and thousands of years women have been oppressed, they are not the only ones that have been oppressed, there are so many marginalized groups.
I believe in women’s rights yes, but believe strongly in the rights of every individual as long as these do not infringe upon the rights , or oppress anyone. So I am an advocate , plain and simple. In my work, Everywhere I go there are examples of power imbalances. My role is to help one navigate the system, that all too often does not make sense, and hopefully help even the playing ground a little by sharing knowledge of resources and supports available and if necessary blast through the barriers to equalize the playing ground .
Would I attend a rally , maybe, would I call myself a feminist, not in the traditional sense of feminism…but in my own right I believe I challenge the the oppressive ideals that have fostered barriers for women. And by the way of example, I would like to believe I am shifting the paradigm in my own life.
Though I have chosen to be a mother, a nurturer, a wife and these roles certainly have become at times obstacles to my own dreams, desires,
I am empowered now that I feel I have real choices, and real control and decisions. For some reason I felt I had very little, when I wasn't working, and wasn't bringing in a substantial income. I believe the position and roles that mothers assume, often can challenge the very ideals we try so hard to uphold. My disillusionment is with systems that fail people, not with people at all, because I have never held people on a pedestal. I believe we can each make a difference through our own lives, to be empowered, great responsible people. I believe that feminism has been a wonderful freeing vehicle for women, and am proud that woman have come so far in having their rights realized. I still feel in many ways, and in some systems there is a long road ahead. I still don't feel strongly that I can ever aspire to, and claim to be a feminist. I am a strong woman who through resiliency, intelligence, wisdom has made the decision to be an advocate for the oppressed, if that be a woman so be it, but never want to be limited to that
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