Saturday, February 18, 2012

Feminism

I’ve been getting agitated lately by people (especially women) who see no problem with the status quo, wanting to be nothing more than men who will tell them what to do.

Here I am, a 22 year old female, with two Bachelor of Arts degrees, 17+ years of formal education, having worked 5+ jobs in my life, pursuing a Master of Divinity at a reputable theological seminary in the hopes of spending the rest of my life in a “man’s profession,” i.e. as a minister of word and sacrament. Every day I have to fight to prove that I am worthy of being here because I am young, I am a member of the LGBT community, but mostly because I am a woman.

And it’s just my job. I can’t help being compelled on this journey. I don’t have anything to prove, but I know in my heart that I am making the journey easier for my nieces, my future daughters, women yet to be born who will never have to appreciate the sacrifices we made in order for them to be viewed as equal human beings alongside their brothers because that dignity will just come naturally.

And yet there are women, women my age, who see nothing wrong with wanting nothing more out of life than a man.

Well I’m here to say that girls, you can be your own person. Your significant other doesn’t define you. You’re sexual orientation doesn’t define you. You’re age doesn’t define you. You’re sex, and your gender, do not define you. You are your own person, uniquely and wonderfully made. Love yourself and know that you can be whatever you want to be. If you want to be a homemaker, great, but please don’t box your sisters into that same fate. Let us grow, and strive to be all of the things we ever dreamed of. Let us become the dreams of our mothers, our grandmothers, our great grandmothers, our aunts, our friends, the dreams our fathers had for us when were infants, the dreams our grandfathers had for our mothers. Those dreams can become reality in us, if we simply keep on, and never give up fighting for what is ours: equality.

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