Hiya!!

So, today is International Women’s Day, and I felt I should write a lil’ somethin’ about women, and a topic that has been coming up more and more lately; feminism.

When I looked up ‘define feminism’, this is what I got:
‘the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.’
And that’s good, I think, because that’s what I probably would’ve said if you’d asked me. Then, I typed ‘define feminist’;
‘a person who supports feminism.’ Notice that nowhere here does it say that women are better than men, that textbook feminists hate men, or that feminism includes hate at all.

I have an opinion on the whole ‘feminism’ thing. I think, yes. Yes this is a good thing. Yes women should have equal rights. Yes we should be allowed to be paid the same, marry who we’d like, choose whether or not to have kids and careers or both or neither. And I guess, in this way, I am a feminist. 

But. I also believe in men having equal rights. I believe men should be allowed to wear what they’d like. I believe a man should be allowed to hold open a door or compliment a lady without being called sexist. I believe men should be allowed to marry whomever they’d like, and choose whether or not they have kids or a career or both or neither. I looked it up, and I couldn’t find an appropriate word for this, so I’d like to just float it all under one banner; equality.

Let’s start practicing what the dictionary says feminism is; equal rights. Let’s acknowledge that calling a man ‘gay’ or ‘wussy’ or ‘chicken’ is just as emotionally damaging as calling a girl ‘fat’, ‘slut’ or ‘butch.’ This Women’s Day, I’d like to think that we can work together as human beings to support women, while we are also supporting men.

I think men can stop and take a moment to thank a woman in their life, and a woman can thank a woman, and a man can thank a man, and a woman can thank a man, and if you don’t fit under those banners, thank someone anyway, and if you know someone who doesn’t fit under those banners, thank them too. Say ‘thanks for doing my washing’ or ‘thanks for being an advocate for women’s rights’, because yes, women have been oppressed in the past. That’s why Women’s Day is important; to think about how we can help women free themselves from any prejudice they still face. But I think that soon, we can start seeing the world as a place for everybody, where everyone practices equality and sees that people are all valuable.

So! On that note, I’d like to do my thanking for today by introducing eight great blogger women who I like and follow. Thanks for being gals, gals.
Give them a look!

https://elizabethedevane.wordpress.com/

https://poemsbyher.wordpress.com/?s=women

http://www.sensitiveandextraordinary.com/

http://astitchtoscratch.com/

http://zerowastechef.com/

https://deepbluesandseafoamgreens.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/10-facts-about-yours-truly/

Women at Work: Leaning In

http://midlifelows.com/

So yes. Thank a someone today. I’d love to offer my big thanks to my wonderful mum :)

Xx Loony