Good things about being a feminist.

[CaptainMarvelBunting]

Now, I know we feminists are responsible for curdling milk, livestock problems, and climate change, because I never tire of hearing people telling me all about it.

But a recent jolly visitor to FWR suggested we talk about the good things about being a feminist, and, surprisingly for a GF, it struck me as an excellent suggestion.

So, what are the totally positive things about being a feminist?

Personally, I like having a real sense of drive and purpose in working for the liberation of women and girls. I like being able to see the reality of how the patriarchy influences everything, and being able to plot to bring it down.

I especially like that the last time I turned a guy into a newt, he did get better.

How about you? What do you think is great about being a feminist?

I am allowed to vote, own property and my own money, I know my daughters can realise their ambitions irrespective of male input and I know why because I am cognisent of feminist history. Enough?

Meeting such amazing women.

I quite enjoy the look of fear on mens faces when they realise.

I feel like im a member of a really cool club. My twitter feed is full of awesome women who are really funny.

I engaged on fb on IWD. My comment was liked. Ive never engaged on sm before.

I like not having to live in a false reality, where the rules could change at any moment.
I like not having to constantly demonstrate submissiveness, or fake niceness.

I'm going through life with my eyes open. No kool aid for me!

being on the right side of history

by the way, what's so awful about being a newt?

You get to share ideas and laughs with other feminists.

A post I read on Twatter that I really liked said something along the lines of: 'The best thing about a witch hunt is you get to meet the other witches.'

Other feminists are definitely the best part of being a feminist; their warmth, intelligence, courage, humour and resilience inspire me. Talking with feminists makes me feel less alone in a world that thinks I should "just be nice" because I was born with a uterus.

Iv'e made DH laugh when I have gone off on a rant
My son is a feminist
I haven't shaved my legs this week and I haven't shaved my arm pits for years
DH did the cooking and all of the washing up this evening
The more I read, and the more I think the more obstinate I am
I have quite a library
Thinking of doing an MA in critical theory just so I can read all my favourite feminist authors and continue where Della Costa gave up and prove that capital gains value through women's reproductive labour. (The hypothesis is there, the proof is not)

I would like to fully prove that patriarchy doesn't exist, that this theory without a history has no meaningful value, instead we should talk about the shape patriarchal relations take under different modes of production. (not just historically but geographically, so over time and place).

I can be quite persuasive and tenacious, I feel i have to be as a woman, or I might not be taken seriously

I am glad that I didn't have to live my whole life thinking that the abusive messages given to me as a child and young woman were accurate. I am glad that I found other women who had been fed those same messages, and that we figured out that women have been given those messages for a long time and that women have also been resisting and fighting back for a long time, too.

I'm glad for our resistence.

I feel happy when I am working with other women and we understand each others' life experiences, sometimes just with a brief look.

I love that feminism saved me somewhat or tried to, and continues to save me, or try to, from internalising this sexist world. I love that it helped me to save myself from destruction.

I love that feminists are the women who will say it as it is, and be direct about what they see the problem as - not tripping over ourselves to be 'nice' all the time if something true but uncomfortable needs to be said. I love trying to become that sort of woman, looking to women who have gone before.

I love that feminism doesn't apologise for standing up for the rights of women and girls - rights to life, and safety from male violence.

I like that, because of feminism, I feel more able to be my true non-conforming self and scr*w stereotypes and expectations of womanhood. In feminism I am accepted because I'm female, not because I conform to femininity. This frees me so much!! To be me, to explore topics and hobbies and thoughts and other people that I am interested in, and not just what I am expected to like.

I love feminism for being the wind beneath my wings, the mother I never had, the daughter I would protect with my life, the sister who's been there too. I love feminism for the laughter, the tears, the rage, and the fears it has helped me to express when I thought my only lot in life was confused silence and self-hatred.

Being a feminist is great because it connects me to all these things that feminism is, and more.

I like that I am part of a philosophy that has so much to offer society.

Feminism is good for the whole of society. It is honest, expects honesty from its proponents, and thus creates a more honest society. It does not require you to follow a leader and support dogma, on the contrary, feminism encourages independent thought and respects variety.

Equity for women, equality of opportunity for women, freeing women from stereotypes, these create better outcomes for the whole of society.

Because of feminism, I can be an unfeminine woman. I can be me.

I like that I finally feel happy about being a woman now, I don't feel constrained by gender stereotypes any more because I know they're bullshit now.

Reading about all the amazing women in history (and today right now - women standing up for their rights again, they're the real new suffragettes) makes me feel so proud to be a woman, and to be raising a daughter.

The fear in DHs eyes when I threaten Newtyness at him when he hasnt cleaned the house well enough.

being on the right side of history

And science

by the way, what's so awful about being a newt?

Well... they're a bit thin skinned, aren't they?

Because of feminism, I can be an unfeminine woman. I can be me.
This

Meeting such amazing women.

This. Even if I haven’t met in the flesh, there are so many inspiring women out there. It’s wonderful to have a different perspective on my life.

I never became any man's slave and I don't have any sexist friends.

Seeing the big picture of how the world works. Connecting dots many people can't connect because they don't acknowledge that male narcissism has probably caused more disasters than anything else on the planet...Constantly disguised by the harmless sounding term "male ego" as if their self centeredness is a mysterious quality they have no control over.

Realizing many problems we face are not "just life" and can be changed if culture changes.

Knowing how to be a positive feminist role model for my two daughters. You can't believe how much this board has helped me gain the confidence to do this.