What are you grateful for because of feminism's achievements?
My initial list, as a woman:
- I can vote, and I can vote separately and differently from a husband and father.
- I can own property.
- I can have my own credit lines and bank accounts.
- I can have access to safe and tested contraceptives.
- I can terminate a pregnancy (depending on state restrictions) without going to prison or relying on unsafe methods.
- I can have an education and earn as many higher degrees as I want.
- I can take myself and my minor children to a battered woman's shelter if I need escape and protection from an abusive husband.
- I can press charges against an abusive husband if he assaults me or rapes me.
- I can claim my sexuality.
Granted, some are more mundane than others on my list. But every now and then, when I feel as if we still have a long way to go, I find myself thanking the courageous feminists in the past who decided to speak up instead of being ladylike or full of machismo, and blazed these trails for me to walk on. They not only faced social exile, but threats, harassment, fines, assaults, and jail.
Thank you, feminism.
My initial list, as a woman:
- I can vote, and I can vote separately and differently from a husband and father.
- I can own property.
- I can have my own credit lines and bank accounts.
- I can have access to safe and tested contraceptives.
- I can terminate a pregnancy (depending on state restrictions) without going to prison or relying on unsafe methods.
- I can have an education and earn as many higher degrees as I want.
- I can take myself and my minor children to a battered woman's shelter if I need escape and protection from an abusive husband.
- I can press charges against an abusive husband if he assaults me or rapes me.
- I can claim my sexuality.
Granted, some are more mundane than others on my list. But every now and then, when I feel as if we still have a long way to go, I find myself thanking the courageous feminists in the past who decided to speak up instead of being ladylike or full of machismo, and blazed these trails for me to walk on. They not only faced social exile, but threats, harassment, fines, assaults, and jail.
Thank you, feminism.