I'm a 37-year-old 152 pounds 5' 3 " married WASP woman living in Small Town (a.k.a. Hershey, PA), USA with 2 kids, a dog, a Honda, and yes ... a fence around most of my backyard. I have a mortgage, life insurance, monthly bills, no debt and a steady job. I teach students. I wipe my kids' noses. I make beds, cook meals, do laundry, iron dress shirts, buy groceries, work out like a man, bullet journal and read as much as I can. I am obsessed with coffee, running, NCIS, soccer, being a good person and taking everything from each day the good Lord has given us..
By the way ...
I'm a feminist.
That's right... a feminist. Don't get too scared now. I won't bite... hard. What I will do is throw in your face any aspect of myself that you believe does not deserve what you have and cannot do what you do. Now there is that aspect of you having a penis and my having a vagina -- you can keep yours and I'll keep mine.
I have worked just as hard at what I do, who I am, where I am, where I've been, what I've accomplished as you. Do I not deserve equal to you? Should I not make equal to you? Do I not deserve recognition? I am not asking for more, I am asking for equal.
I am not here to burn my bra, expect you to call first year students at college's fresh persons, not freshmen. I am not staging a sit-in or going on a hunger strike (Hell... NO). I am expecting you to put aside the fact that I can give birth when you consider hiring me, speaking to me, listening to me, for goodness sakes, acknowledging me.
You want to make comments about my body... go ahead. I know I look good. My husband tells me every day. That's his job. Use your imagination in what he says. Women say men look hot all the time, he's fresh, he's on point. Guys like to hear it, as well. Guess what, so do women. However, when you make it derogatory, it becomes offensive. That is you trying to use your power as a "man" over me as a "woman." You make it seem as that is all I am... a piece of a&%. I, like so many other women, push my body to the extreme to look good. But it's not for you. It's for me. First and foremost. And then my man, who loves me for who I am, before what I can do.
Those women and even men who claim themselves as feminists are now more than ever simply looking for equality. Why are women in so many professions making less than $.80 to a dollar that men make for doing the same work? As of February 2016, women hold only 4 percent of the CEO positions in S & P's top 500 companies? Why? Do you believe a woman can't do it? Did no women 'apply' for the job? Perhaps there weren't any in the next lower position to promote? Maybe that's because the company never gave them the chance. Maybe their resume was thrown out as soon as they read her name. Do we need to discuss the United States Women's National Team? It's so much more than the 23 women who represented this country in the World Cup, or the 18 who will represent us at the Olympics. It is about finally taking a stand against unequal pay for equal work. In this situation their work is their play. In any business it's their success at their job, their proven ability to show their due success.
Mika Brzezinski was one of the first women in the most recent past to bring up this idea of pay discrepancy for equal work, but also the inequality of respect. Ms. Brzezinski realized in 2008 that her pay was almost 14 times less than her co-host Joe Scarborough on MSNBC's Morning Joe talk show. She was actually the lowest paid person at the table among all the regular political analysts. What was the difference? She was a woman. She was not fresh out of college with a Bachelor's of Political Science and no experience. She came with a career of almost 20 years in the media of analyzing the political and economic world of the day behind her. She was able to negotiate a better salary for herself after threatening to "leave the table." We know this story because she is a media personnel who has the fortune of being able to discuss her situation with the public and make her feelings known. She was ready to walk away from her career because her worth was not being recognized. Think about this? For this one situation I am discussing, how many are untold? How many women suffer in their daily lives and way of life because they are not paid what they are due. They are not recognized in so many ways for doing a man's job without a man's salary, good fortune, recognition or daily applause.
Ms. Brzezinski is a pioneer, a trailblazer in this modern movement of Feminism that we are seeing become more and more prevalent within society today. What about Malala; fighting literally to her own possible death to be educated, to be given the opportunity of what too many young people take for granted, their education. She's not asking for more, but equal. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her very personal yet raw account on how we must change society and raise our children, boys and girls differently, speaks very clearly yet nostalgically about why she believes "We Should All Be Feminists." How about the little girl in my son's class who wants short hair, dirty nails and a WildFang TOMBOY t-shirt. What's your size sweetie? I'll buy you one.
And now there is Aniya Wolf, a high school senior at a local Catholic high school here in Harrisburg, PA who was removed from her high school prom due to the fact that she was wearing a suit. A suit, people. A few hours before prom was to start this past Saturday night Aniya and her family received an email explaining that girls must wear a dress to prom. This is when Aniya's mom called the school to tell them she had read the dress code that was given to the students and did not believe it precluded her from wearing a suit. Aniya had waited for weeks to go to her high school prom with her girlfriend, to wear her brand new suit that she purchased for the event. Instead, when she tried to attend, she was lead out by her arm by a school staff member who threatened to call the police. How absurd. The police... under what grounds? I don't believe Aniya Wolf was throwing anything in anyone's face. She was not trying to prove a point. She was simply trying to be herself, yet in an obscure way, she was also making a stand. Aniya Wolf was being herself, yet someone or some people told her she could not be. They did not even have to say anything... their actions alone spoke louder than any words could. She was taken in hand, by the arm, and lead out. She was being told without technically being told... you're not wanted the way you are.
Ultimately, these stories are surfacing every day where a person, specifically a female, is looked down upon for being who they want to be. They can't not be a female, but what about being the kind of female they want to be. Why is the public taking it upon themselves to judge anyone? This goes farther than simply wanting equality, specifically with pay, this is the overall idea of letting women be who they want to be. My own definition of feminism is being born... back up and let me be me.
I want to cook for my family, keep a clean house, wear dresses, spit after running, earn a living equal to my work, my education and my male counterpart, and speak loudly and proudly of whatever I want. Get it?
