Feminism: attractive feature or attractive deterrent?
Self-assuredness, independence, opinion and conviction in her beliefs and actions, and unafraid to speak her mind. Does it make her more attractive, or does it make her too intimidating?
I know I just have to be myself, even if I can be a bit of a loud, intimidating and nagging presence to several. Someone will like me for being just that; I know I should.
So what is it? Is it too manly to possess such qualities, too forward and thus unorthodox? Or is it just perfectly refreshing in this day and age to know what one wants?
Those are the questions, this is my story.
By the end of 8th grade I was actually happy that I was going to attend a Catholic all-girls high school; I had been sick and tired of my guy friends' antics. During my four years at Alverno, we've been assigned some books to read that are either overtly or clandestinely feminist. Among them were Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. By my senior year, talks about feminism and literature in general became more philosophical, and I thought deeply about it. My teacher told us that women "carry the moral banner and have carried it proudly throughout history." She's talking about the sexual double standard, and the idea that women themselves have willingly adhered to this.
I never thought I'd have an opinion about it, because my parents, being the middle class citizens that they are, hardly ever cared about certain things with such fiery passion. Now, I realized how deep feminist values have been sown within me, and how it has become a part of me that has at last, simmered to the surface of my demeanor.
Some men are surprised I'm single, some are not. The ones who aren't surprised tell me that I carry and exude the consciousness that I don't need or want a man. Of course I don't need a man...
I know I just have to be myself, even if I can be a bit of a loud, intimidating and nagging presence to several. Someone will like me for being just that; I know I should.
So what is it? Is it too manly to possess such qualities, too forward and thus unorthodox? Or is it just perfectly refreshing in this day and age to know what one wants?
Those are the questions, this is my story.
By the end of 8th grade I was actually happy that I was going to attend a Catholic all-girls high school; I had been sick and tired of my guy friends' antics. During my four years at Alverno, we've been assigned some books to read that are either overtly or clandestinely feminist. Among them were Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. By my senior year, talks about feminism and literature in general became more philosophical, and I thought deeply about it. My teacher told us that women "carry the moral banner and have carried it proudly throughout history." She's talking about the sexual double standard, and the idea that women themselves have willingly adhered to this.
I never thought I'd have an opinion about it, because my parents, being the middle class citizens that they are, hardly ever cared about certain things with such fiery passion. Now, I realized how deep feminist values have been sown within me, and how it has become a part of me that has at last, simmered to the surface of my demeanor.
Some men are surprised I'm single, some are not. The ones who aren't surprised tell me that I carry and exude the consciousness that I don't need or want a man. Of course I don't need a man...
posted by Dawn at 10:38 PM
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