Friday, September 25, 2009

MY Random Thoughts ; What Does It Mean Be A Feminist ?

The week the Dalai Lama summed up his definition of a feminist, something he claims to be, very succinctly. He said:
"I call myself a feminist. Isn’t that what you call someone who fights for women’s rights?"
Earlier this month I discussed in my Staff Meeting  what it means for a woman to be "empowered," and we noted that there have been various varieties of feminism through the years. Do you, like the Dalai Lama, subscribe to his simple definition of feminism, or has the evolution of the women's right movement impacted what it means to be a feminist?
What do you think it means to be a feminist?

I took a philosophy of feminism class in college, and it was one of the most fascinating courses I have ever taken. My professor told us that the whole point of the feminism movement was for women to define their own meaning of feminism, because no two women are the same and you can't treat them as such. That was the problem before: women were told what was expected of them without any thought or concern for what they wanted for themselves. So feminism was all about making your own choices. If you choose to stay at home and raise your kids or choose to have a baby and go back to work after a few months, it doesn't make you any more or less of a feminist. The point is that you made your own choice. THAT'S what makes you a feminist; having the strength and the self respect to know what is best for you and to stand up for it . .PEACE ♥



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