Feminism and my brain.

[nonethefewer]

I used to be the sort of person who would say "humanism, not feminism".  I've grown past that, I'd like to think.

There are three reasons for how I got past that:

1) I am all for human rights.  I'm all for women's rights.  So why not lump the two together?  The reason I found was that the struggle for women's rights was so important and so necessary that it shouldn't be lumped in with the greater category.  It's like saying "vegetables, not corn".  I am a master of the analogy, I am.

2) The people behind the feminist label scared me.  Some still do.  Not in the for-my-life way, blessedly, but… they're all so angry, all the time, about things that aren't hard to deal with.  There's the standard "Woman walks alone in an alley or goes to a bar by herself… then what?" story, and my response was to suggest that the woman take protective or preventative measures to handle such a situation.

It genuinely took me looking past the easy pragmatism to figure that while yes, women should protect themselves in dangerous situations, certain dangerous situations shouldn't fucking happen to begin with.  I've seen people state, with a distinct lack of irony, that by focusing on the fact that it shouldn't happen, I'm advocating not being prepared.  This is solid either/or thinking, and is a pile of crap besides.  I find that I have enough space to contain both "What can I do to assist in cutting down on said dangerous situations?" and "While the dangerous situations still occur, I will take measures to protect myself".

3) Feminism is still needed.  When a woman cannot get EC because all of the doctors and nurses she contacts say she has to be married or raped to get it… when a Muslim leader compares women to chunks of meat, in an effort to shame them into staying indoors… when, hello, clitoridectomies still exist anywhere in the world… yes, feminism is still needed.

(I'm kind of proud of myself that I remembered how to spell "clitoridectomies" without referring to a dictionary.  Etymology is my friend.)

One thing that still puts me off is the idea of arguing.  I don't remember facts well, and I tend to get overly emotional besides (I know the difference between being passionate and getting flustered, and believe me, I'm the latter), both of which make it difficult for me to hold my own in debate.  All I have is the vague hope that I'll remember enough to stay afloat, and the hope that the other person will see that I'm passionate for a reason, and maybe will investigate to see what the reason is.

Of course, experience bears out that in the middle of a debate, most people don't genuinely give a damn about the other POV, except for just enough to fuel their own arguments.  But now I'm getting annoyed again.  Mmph.

At any rate.  The solution for this isn't to draw back from arguments, it's to engage in them.  Learn the facts, argue with people, refine my thinking as I go.  So, here I am, stating that I'm a feminist, and going from there.

Originally posted at Xtinian Thoughts.  Comment here or there.