How has your feminism affected those around you?

DH is much more aware of sexism in the world than he was. He always was to a degree, but he's noticing things he'd never noticed before.

In the past it also made an impact on those I worked with (whether they wanted it to or not )

I have to go back 44 years for my outstanding memory. I was at an ante-natal class when it was quite revolutionary for any male partners to attend. The class leader was doing her spiel about the process of giving birth and a bloke piped up "Can't see why there is all this fuss about having a baby. In Africa the woman have the baby under the hedge (yes he really said that) and then go back to work."

I was waiting for the class leader to tell him not to be such a twat but no one spoke. So after an embarrassing silence I said to him "Well, considering that every year half a million women die in childbirth and most of them will have been squatting under a hedge or similar, that attitude clearly works very well doesn't it: but of course as a man and therefore an expert in childbirth you are bound to know better aren't you? Why don't you take the class?"

Even after 44 years I've remembered it almost word for word because it was a) the first time I probably really went for it feminism-wise in public and b) I was persona non grata for the rest of time.

It's true PumpkinGuts (and thank goodness for the awareness).
Before, he was aghast and particularly bothered by the idea that he undoubtedly knows some men who have committed abuse/harassment. For an intelligent person, he found it very very difficult to accept. And I found it difficult to accept that I was telling him facts and he disbelieved me.

'Well ive made it clear im there for my health not my looks and got the eye roll'

I know what you mean. I've lost some weight recently - I've cut back on booze and increased my exercise and vegetable intake as part of trying to manage my depression and anxiety. I've had some colleagues (all women) comment excitedly about how I've lost 'so much weight!'. When I've responded in a measured way and haven't joined in with the excitement, I've had blank looks and the conversation has just died. It's like obsessing about how you look is an essential part of being a woman, and if you don't think about your weight, you're not a real woman

DH is finally coming round to the fact that statistically, many, many men can be and are guilty of sexual abuse or sexual harrasment. Women are far more aware of this (no kidding eh?) because they talk amongst themselves about it. It took the events around jimmy Savile and the discussions we had about the behaviour of people working at the BBC, the articles about the culture etc for the penny finally to drop.

He also hates gendered toys and books and makes good choices of present for his niece.

And MIL thinks I am some sort of rude harridan for not changing my name on marriage, and not making approving noises when SIL did. I would say I have affected her in some way. Meh.

Well ive made it clear im there for my health not my looks and got the eye roll.
And i spoke up when a lady said she was using a photo of a much slimmer friend as inspiration And when the consultant said what a good idea this is i said i didnt see the diffrence between using that and a picture from a celeb mag We are all diff body types and we should be happy with heathier versions of ourselves.
Ive had looks as if to say "this ones gonna be trouble"

I was with a couple of friends in an old man's pub in a small Scottish village. We were having a giggle and we were 'shusshed' by one of the regulars. We were all really shocked and just sort of laughed it off, but when we got back to my friends she said 'please can you put your feminist hat on and can we talk about what just happened because I am so, so cross about it.'

She's now at the stage of self-defining as a feminist. So that's one success! (I'm sure she would have got there on her own, but we've been talking about it a lot since)

DH struggles with it though, but I think that's because we have very traditional roles and - while those roles are right for us right now - I don't particularly like our set up and I get very angsty about it. Which translates to chippiness, which he puts down to feminism. And actually, it's not, it's boredom/worry about the financial pressures he's putting himself under.

(DS has SN so I'm freelancing from home, it's absolutely the right thing for him and therefore for our family, but it's not the situation either DH or I envisaged for us.)

I dont think my feminism has gone down very well at my Slimming World group.