Personal Narrative: The Feminist Movement

I still consider myself a feminist after this course. I believe that there is the need to establish, define, and achieve political, economic, and social rights for all not just

First, I want to start off by saying I definitely became very informed of what it was like for women prior to the Women’s Liberation Movement! I had no idea just how bad women had it back then. In addition, I am guilty of referring to most feminist as man haters and often wondered what all of the fuss was about, I guess I never took the time to do the research to see in fact what the true meaning and purpose of a feminist is. In the end my beliefs about feminism have in fact changed after reading the three articles “A Day without Feminism”, “Fear of Feminism and “Claiming an Education.” I believe these authors wanted to inform readers of what it was like for women before the Women’s Liberation Movement but to send the message stating although things are improving, we are not there yet and there is still a lot to be done!

As I grew up I never realized that I was growing up in a family with very feministic views. Growing up I knew my grandmother ruled her house and the women in my family tended to make most of the choices. I never realized that this was so different than others until I started seeing other people’s family structure and the different topics in feminism. So as a child even though I was not raised with the word feminism in my vocabulary but I was getting the base of my feministic outlook on life now.

Initially, the word feminist weighed heavy on my tongue, foreign and full of skepticism because at sixteen I had a fallacious view of the girls who wore the title like a homecoming crown. My APUSH class proved me wrong. The girls at my table taught me that feminism was far more than unshaven armpits and misandry as society so often reduced it to; instead I learned it to be about empowerment, the uplift of women to rightful equality. That was a value my mother instilled in me from early childhood --- that I, a woman, am invariably equal to a man so the incredulity

Before this class, I was aware of feminism but also uncertain on the meaning. I knew gender inequality existed throughout history and currently. Growing up in the rural Midwest, feminism was not perceived as a positive movement. Little was taught or said about feminism in any primary education. We learned about women’s suffrage and that was it. After, taking this class, I understand that feminism is so much more than woman’s suffrage in the early 1900s.

At the beginning of the semester when I was asked if I was a feminist, I thought the answer was pretty obvious. I didn’t consider myself a feminist, nor did I ever think I would ever become a feminist, but what I didn’t understand about feminism, was that I didn’t truly understand what it meant to be a feminist. After months of studying gender, I now have a better understanding of what it exactly means to be a feminist. In my opinion, a feminist is someone who wants equal rights for women and men, and what I mean by equal rights, is equality across the board, which includes the political landscape, religious landscape, the free market, the jobs market, ETC. Although that definition is not one that is widely accepted in the academic environment,

During these last thirteen weeks, I have discovered a lot about myself, not only as a student, but as a feminist. Before taking this class, I knew that I wanted to be a feminist. I believed that women should stand up and exercise their rights to be equal to men on every level. Be that as it may, I lacked the education required to develop my own sense of feminism--my feminist manifesto, if you will. When approaching the topic of feminism, every person needs to ask themselves a list of questions: Who am I? Who do I want to be? What has influenced me as a person? How can I help? These are the beckoning questions we, as developing and purposeful human beings, ask ourselves every day, and these are the questions that will lead each and every person

I have been in the Marine Corps for roughly three and a half years and throughout that time I have done many things. Most of the things that I have done were with Combat Logistics Battalion 26. For three years, I worked with that unit through work ups and a deployment and I have seen and done many unique things. However, nothing I did with CLB 26 felt fulfilling, but that all changed when I changed units to CLB 8.

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

I chose to break the norm of either smiling at strangers or giving them a neutral look when you make eye contact. I decided to give every stranger I passed a confused look like they had just spoken to me in another language. I must admit, this made me feel a bit goofy. I was on the fence as to whether or not to do this in the first place but I decided I just had to. The responses I received were quite comical. A few people asked if I was alright, and one person even asked if I had a problem with them.

When I walked into the store, I was greeted by the sales associate, Cathy. She came over and asked me how she can help me today. I replied that I was looking for a new mattress and was told by a co-worker that they had a new Sleep Number bed and I was interested in finding out about them. The associate asked me about my current mattress and what I was looking for in a new mattress. After I answered her questions, she led me over to the demonstration mattress and asked me to lie down. She gave me the demonstration and then asked me to come over to the m7 mattress and lie down on that mattress. The associate then demonstrated the adjustable frame of the m7. She then gave me the laminated pricing sheet and explained that there was a current

Have you ever been so desperate for something that you modify your motive in its entirety? Throughout my life I’ve found myself placed in this frightening situation multiple times; the most confusing of which would be what I’ve endured this year. People in their 20s have it rough. We’re old enough to feel like we’re supposed to know what we’re doing, yet young enough to roll in the tide aimlessly and clueless and it still be acceptable. Then there’s those of us who believe we’ve got it all figured out only to be proven tremendously wrong. I have learned, however, that being tremendously wrong can lead you right where you need to be.

I consider myself a feminist solely on the premise of the word’s definition. Webster defines feminist as “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities; the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” Our country was founded on similar beliefs but the gender equality segment was forgotten. Women did not have the right to vote or even work until the 1920’s. Even today, women struggle to be considered equals in all aspects of American life. America is still widely seen as a largely patriarchal society even when there are statistically more women employed and single-handedly maintaining a household than ever before.

50 minutes had passed since Bailey Madison James whom some called Bai and others called BJ. Though when they called her BJ that just pissed her off to the point of no return. Bailey thought it was funny when she'd explode and the looks on people's faces made her day sometime. She just couldn't get enough of it. "I love you." Bailey typed into her phone sending a text message to Calahan not knowing if he was going to get it or not. Even if they fought a lot she always made sure that he knew she loved him. Even if it was a simple text message before bed, a note on his pillow, a note on his plate when he'd come home late. It was just her little way of trying to make things better between them. She hated the fact that all they did was fight including

I began involving myself in feminism at age 12. It was eye-opening when I finally realized just how differently women and girls are treated. I actually recall hearing about Malala around this time and being so inspired by her story. I wanted to teach my friends and family about feminism, and I wanted to grow with them. What I found was that not everyone was so accepting of the changes feminism wanted to make. They were so use to conforming to gender roles and women being treated as the weaker sex. People thought I was overreacting; it was so frustrating that they were not willing to even hear me out because of my age and gender. That is