I am unsurprised to see this is still going. I like what sunshineandbooks did eariler, and in the spirit of that I think I will do similar (although I think its :( no one else did).
I am a feminist.
I laugh all the time. I am a very happy, positive person and very little ever gets me down. I am an extrovert and very outgoing and I make other people laugh all the time. In a social group I tend to be the funny one.
That doesn't stop me getting angry about inequality and fighting to do something about it. I work at board level for a large company in a very male dominated insdustry. I am the only female at the level and the only one in its history. I am fighting hard to change that. The company I work for recently became a Sunday Times Top 100 Employer due to the new policies and initiaives I have introduced which make things better for all staff and particulalry female staff. These have included enhanced maternity pay, flexiblre working and assistance with childcare costs, but have been wide reaching as well in terms of work / life balance, health and career progression and training. I mentor a selction of female staff each year in order to try to make sure I am not the only woman at my level for long. In my spare time (and given I have a high pressure career, horses and a small baby, there isn't a lot) I do voluntary work with vulnerable women, assist with fundraising for womens charitys and am heavily involved in assisting women access HE which I am passionate about. I have 2 degrees myself so would like others to have access to the same opportunities.
I love sex. Don't want to stray into TMI territory but I'm quite adventurous and open-minded about it. As long as it doesn't involve children or animals, and consent is unequivocal, anything goes in my book. I do not believe the choices I make behind closed doors within my personal relationship affect other women. I worked in the sex industry at a low level at University (glamour / porn model and sex line operator). I have some insights into that industry. I have my own experiences of rape and DV, as do a lot of people. I am concerned about exploitation and trafficking and the sexualisation of young girls which I think are serious issues facing women today. I don't think it should be legal to pay for sex but my primary concern would be to ensure women are being protected and that any legislation has that at its heart and is able to acutally deliver that protection. I am also concerned about exploitation full stop (especially of children) and think poverty and culture are big factors.
I don't like or dislike men anymore than I like or dislike women. I tend to not make that distinction. I just like or dislike different people. I love being a woman, I think it is something to celebrate and be very proud of. I have achieved what I have achieved because I am a woman, not in spite of it.
I find it odd that given my feminism, my activism, my pratical work to improve equality and the lives of women, my views and beliefs I am refered to as a usual suspect lining up to slag off the MN Feminists. Especially as I have not done that at any point. I am pleased that all of my posts on this thread stand, which I think is testament to the fact I have not attacked anoyone, or the boards in general. I certainly haven't attacked feminism. That would be a very odd thing for a feminist to do. As I say, I find it odd but I won't lose sleep over it as I don't need a couple of random people on an internet forum to validate my feminist credentials. Last time I looked they weren't in charge of giving out the badges.
There are some posters on the FWR boards who are aggressive and inflexible. There are a number of people on MN who do not feel welcome or comfotable posting the FWR boards.
Those are facts, not insults.
I post on AIBU a lot. If someone said there were some posters on there who were aggressive and inflexible and that some people did not feel welcome or comfortable posting on that board, I would not take that as a personal attack. I would agree with them. There are. I am not AIBU. No single poster is FWR. Both boards are a collection of opinions from a group of people. Most good, some bad, lots just different. I feel no need to "defend" the AIBU board or "attack" the FWR board. Nor have I done.
I love being a feminist. I love being a woman. I am full of joy. I like sex.
I don't seem to fit the required boxes to not be seen as an anti-feminist on MN by some people. But I think that's a reflection of them and not of me or of feminism, so that's ok. I shall just carry on doing what I do and being a feminist and I don't really mind if anyone tells me I am not or I am doing it wrong. I'll muddle through somehow.