I’ve been a bit busy this week, so today’s installment of Friday’s The F-Word is a bit shorter than usual.
I’m a feminist for many reasons. Here are 10 of them.
- It’s 2016, and the United States has never had a female president. While the November election could change that, it’s absolutely absurd that this is the first time we’ve even had a woman as the Republican or Democratic nominee.
- It’s 2016, and a presidential candidate routinely uses gendered slurs.
- Rapist Brock Turner only received a six-month sentence for raping an unconscious woman. Just so we’re clear, this is an example of what I mean by “rape culture.” Brock Turner was convicted of rape, with a recommended sentence of six years, but the judge only gave him six months.
- The Catholic Church, and many Protestant denominations, don’t allow women to hold leadership positions.
- By the time I graduated high school, I’d already lost count of the number of times I’d been sexually harassed.
- More than one man has sent me sexually-explicit emails, including an unsolicited dick pic.
- An analysis of 122 family films from 2006 to 2009 reveals great gender disparity in the characters. Only 29.2% of the speaking characters are female. Female characters are also more likely to wear sexy clothing and be younger in age. Source
- When I was still at Furman, pretty much anytime sexual assault or rape came up in conversation with me and one or more dudes, at least one of them would immediately bring up false rape accusations or the rape of men. Because if a conversation doesn’t focus on men, it’s not important, amirite?
- North Carolina’s House Bill 2 just overturned basically every single anti-discrimination law for the state.
- As a kid, my school library had just a handful of biographies on famous American women, but considerably more on men. Not only that, but the series published significantly more books on men than on women.
Sharing the reasons why I’m a feminist might become a semi-regular feature.
Are you a feminist? Why or why not?
