it's so weird because it seems that if you talk real loud and if you're real anngry then you're also a feminist or at least assumed to be, yet i don't see myself as that at all and i'm still a feminist.

i remember about a year ago in class when the teacher asked us if anyone were indeed a feminist, and i was the only one who raised my hand, and now that i think back on it i remember how surprised i was to sit in a room of 25 young, outspoken females and a few males and there were so many who were so kick-ass and loud and said good things in class but when the teacher asked, the only one who 'admitted' to being a feminist was me, the uncool (dammit) quiet girl sitting in the very back row of chairs and desks. it was weird.

and i had to 'defend' myself too, and i did, and i made sense, and i was so proud, but it didn't matter because in the middle of my very serious statements of differences between the treatment of females and males, someone made a wisecrack about "but i don't want to share a bathroom with the guys like on ally mcbeal!" and everyone laughed and then it was all lost.

i'm not a feminist because i think women kick more ass than men and are entitled to rule the world now and that men should shut up and sit down and grovel.

i'm a feminist because IT'S NOT FAIR!!! get it? women DO actually get less pay for the same job as men in far too many areas. no i'm not exaggerating, they really do! women DO get passed over for jobs because they are considered a risk because they might have kids and if they do they'll stay home from work. and boys DO get at least two thirds of the teachers' attention in school because they are louder and that ISN'T FAIR. and when a couple buys a new car it IS more likely that the male will get the new car to work and the woman gets the old, used car even though she is much, much more prone to be the one not only driving to work, but also driving to shop groceries, dropping off and picking up the kids at daycare/sports/choir practice etc etc etc. and women are the majority of humans being sexually harrassed, raped, abused, beaten and that's just how it is dammit.

you know?i don't want to stomp all over men and no, i don't consider women better than men and yes, there are so many women-assholes but why does that mean that the above things aren't true and no, just because your boyfriend happens to clean up a whole lot more than you do and because you got the new car and he has the old one it doesn't make these problems less true and less real and less of a _problem_. get it?

i'm a feminist. count on it.