A thread for ladies new to feminism. Come and introduce yourselves

[thefinerthingsinlife]

Hello,
As You may have seen on my other thread I am new to feminism and it appears that there are lots of ladies on this board who are too.

So come introduce yourself and tell us how you came to feminism.

I'm finer, i'm 23 with 2 children and a husband. I started lurking on the feminism board about 4 months ago and things said on here made me thing about things. I went out and brought The Equality Illusion and that was the start of my transformation into a feminist

Hello, I've been lurking on this board for a couple of months too. Felt it was time to step in and say hello. I'm 45 and have dipped up and down over the years re. interest in feminism. I've more recently revived my interest and wanted to read more. I grew up in a 'traditional' household but remember reading Fat is a Feminist Issue when I was in my early twenties. That made a big impression on me at the time, and helped to knock some unhealthy attitudes to food/body on the head. In fact I've recently bought an updated copy to reread and for my DD (13 today) to read in the near future. I've also just read the Beauty Myth and currently working my way through Female Chauvinist Pigs..! In fact my revived interest is definitely because of children approaching teenage years (also have DS aged 9), and feeling old/invisible in the workplace (was made redundant recently). So I wanted to try and put my thoughts into context, rather than just feeing worn down by the prevailing culture.

I feel that I learn a lot from all the posts on here, and it's great to be challenging the prevailing thinking and images out there.

I really don't worry about the question on should it be my DH or myself who should go part-time. Before the mid-1990's employees (mainly women) had to right to request part-time working. Before that, many women had no choice but leave my profession upon having children because of shift work. Now, my training and my independence would be lost if I wasn't part-time.

Fat is a Feminist Issue changed my life in my early 20s too. I don't know if it would seem dated now, I've never gone back to it. But it freed me from a cycle of dieting/bingeing/self-flagellation/dieting.

My list of books to read is getting bigger .

I'm 23 and have only just begun to identify as a feminist. I spent a lot of time telling men at uni that I'm not a typical girl before I realised that I was just buying into the myth that women were fluffy, subservient and silly. I wish I had come to it earlier and had a good feminist role model at home.

I've just started reading Living Dolls and have Female Chauvinist Pigs, The Whole Woman and The Equality Illusion to read courtesy of my little brother. Anyone have a suggestion of which one I should read next?

I'm quite glad MN has a feminist section - I don't feel I can discuss feminism with anyone, I just moved towns, don't really know anyone and my family is quite old-fashioned.

hello. Another long time lurker taking the plunge! I've been honing my feminism for a few years. It started at uni when I had to read Virgnia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own' for my course. That was the first time I took the magic pill, as it were. Since then, I've sought out other feminist literature, especially Germaine Greer (who I met once).

Lately, I've not read so much but have made actively feminist decisions about my personal and working life and have always tried to call it when I see sexism and misogyny. I'm a member of the Fawcett Society and plan - at some stage - to take the leap to being more of an activist. I think this will take the shape of volunteering for a DV charity rather than political action, but I'm open to suggestions!

I'm 33, married and live in London with my 1-next-week DD.

I really love that book Treats, the only feminist book I have passed on to my dad and brother to read.

You might be interested in the Feminism in London conference?

Thanks Elephants. Unfortunately, we've got friends staying that weekend, but I'd be interested to here what people get out of it.