Feminism

Feminism is the radical notion that women are people too. Am I a feminist? Absolutely. Are you a feminist? Probably.

Feminism originally came about as an ideology to promote women's rights. Yes, that's what it still is. However, with third wave feminism, it's more than just that. First wave feminists wanted women to have the right to vote. Second wave feminists were the bra-burning, in-your-face types that seemed bent on world domination. Third wave feminism is somewhere in the middle--it's more based on the notion from the US Declaration of Independence: That everyone is created equal. We all deserve the same rights. Women don't deserve more rights than men; men don't deserve more rights than women. This notion can be taken much further than just sex. It applies to gender, race, nationality, and anything you can think of. (It shares a lot of common ground with humanism.)

You aren't better than me because you noticed that I oversimplified the definitions of the feminist waves. My high IQ doesn't make me better than you. You thinking I'm an arrogant snob for mentioning it doesn't make you better than me. :P My current struggle with depression and loneliness doesn't make me any less than anyone else. My salary doesn't make me better (or worse, for that matter) than anyone else. Your posessions or level of enlightenment don't make you more special. Your job doesn't make you better. Your struggle doesn't make you better. Your gender, height, appearance, skill, intelligence, creativity, accomplishments... none of this makes you any better than anyone else.

Your skills, experience, personality, and the likes may make you more valuable for a given job. We live in a capitalist society. There's no way around that. But why should your salary be dependent on how vocally you request a raise? Doesn't that mean that the person that doesn't demand a higher salary *doesn't* get the raise? Isn't there a problem here?

Am I a feminist? Absolutely. Have I always been a feminist? Well, not exactly. Having been raised in the church, being the son of a preacher, I had some deep, hidden beliefs that I didn't realize were there. I was "converted" in high school by a woman who later became my first wife.

What have I done since then? Well, I taught a rather self-deprecating frightened girl to see that she wasn't any less of a human being because she was female. This idea had been drilled into her head by her father throughout her entire life. It took her a long time, but she's finally blossoming as an independent individual. She's since moved on to a navy boy, and she's working on him too.