My Feminist Affirmation

I’ve heard it described as waking up from a long sleep. It is. Or a bell that’s ringing in your head that can’t be unrung. I hear it ringing everyday. Or like coming out of Plato’s Cave, into the light. There is so much more to see now. I am a Feminist, and I know it is my path to selfhood, sisterhood, social justice, and a more perfect world.

It begins with hearing a sister, a friend, a woman in need. Feeling her pain, digging down to the roots of it. It continues with a desire to walk in her shoes, examine the source of her distress, and dissect it. And most importantly,  it involves looking inside, discovering the weaknesses we have been conditioned with, and finding new strength, and watching it grow. We can then look outside, we must, we’re drawn to it. We gather our friends, our family, our colleagues, whoever will listen, and we reveal what we now know. What we now believe. What we sincerely question. Our observations and activism flow over like water from a spillway. It is exhilarating.


Here’s what I have to say, for whoever will hear. Sexism is alive and well. It is deeply seeded in our culture from our government, healthcare, media, work, schools, religions, to our crimes against humanity and the environment. Deeper still, sexism resides within each person’s mind in the form of our perceptions, opinions, expectations, and limitations. It is there even when we fail to see it. I know that.

I know that sexual oppression and exploitation limits the liberty and happiness of many women. Oppression also affects women, and men alike, for reasons other than their gender. Race, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, and other cultural frames of identity influence the treatment people receive in society, for better or worse.

I know that pain is legitimate, even when we often fail to understand it.

I know that all men and women are created equal.

I know that oppression needs to stop.

I know I need to be involved.

I believe that we have an obligation to address women’s issues globally.

I believe that women ought to reside in many more legislation positions in this country.

I believe that sexual health and reproductive autonomy is often disrespected and denied.

I believe the fixation on women’s youth and beauty in the media is hollow, narrow, and pitiful.    

I believe that women should get equal pay.

I believe that our secondary schools should institute women’s studies courses.

I believe that God and deity should not exclusively be portrayed or acknowledged as male.

I believe that sexual crimes are hate crimes.

I believe in the importance of developing respectful treatment of animals and the environment.

I believe that gender roles are powerfully reinforced, overrated, and just plain unnecessary.

I believe the value of motherhood, and fatherhood, deserves more than lip service.

I believe that it is wrong to deny equal civil liberties based on sexual orientation.

I believe that children learn sexism at an early age.

I believe the first step towards a solution is to acknowledge the problem.

Above all, I believe that I am not inferior, and no one ever is.