If you read the post I just posted, I talked about how my awareness of a need for feminism grew as I got older and really blossomed in high school when I conned a bunch of people into being in a feminism club with me. In said club, we watched lots of movies that focused on women. By far my favorite documentary was Half The Sky. It completely changed my perspective on the world and my future. It is also a book.
The Half the Sky movement focuses on problems that women face all over the world, and the book and documentary feature some incredibly inspiring women, like Edna Adan. You should really take my word for it and go rent it/buy it right now, in book or film form, but in the watch the trailer; it just might change your life.
Throughout my life, I’ve felt connected connected to women. When I was little, that showed up as a refusal to read books with male main characters and a getting in trouble constantly for physically fighting with boys because I wanted to prove that I was just as strong as they were.
That was long before I knew what feminism was, what the patriarchy was, how men (and usually, old white men) control our politics and media and corporations. But as I grew older, I learned. I was told that I could be anything I wanted to be; I was also told to be quiet, proper, ladylike. In the classroom I was valued for my brains but outside I was judged on my body, my femininity, my beauty. I also learned that though my opportunities were limited by my gender, I learned that there were other women with even fewer opportunities based on their race, class, nationality, sexuality, ability, and personal situations.
I’m ashamed to say that it wasn’t until high school that I really thought about feminism and what it meant. I knew the basics, of course, and it made me angry, but…I don’t know, I must have been preoccupied with other preteen dilemmas. Thankfully, one day, I snapped. I got angry, really angry, about the way the world thinks about women. I had already started an environmental club at my school, but it slowly evolved into a human rights club and then a women’s rights club because most of the other members were my friends who joined my club to support me and I was the president and all I wanted to do was rage about feminism and so that’s what we did. We got educated about an issue near and dear to my heart.
In my club we often watched videos like this one, and then read the comments and a) weeped/raged/lost faith in humanity/critically deconstructed every anti-feminist comment. We also watched documentaries like Half The Sky.
It shouldn’t surprise you that now I’m attending a women’s college and double-majoring in gender studies and political theory. I am still very passionate about making the world a better place by empowering women and by learning about the issues that affect women the most. And I feel like learning about empowering, inspiring women is beneficial in that pursuit, so feel free to keep reading my other blog posts and have a nice day!
Women of the world: heroes to influence us all 