The High Price of Being Female... literally!

I have a twin brother.

He pays $18 for a haircut.

I pay $37.

I don't even get anything special done: no highlighting cause dealing with roots just complicates life; no perm because my mom had one in the '80s and that was proof enough to know our hair simply frizzes into what resembles an afro and cannot hold a curl; my cut is nothing difficult - in fact, I currently get the Posh Spice slanted bob that everyone and their mother should know how to cut by now.

BUT, I know girls that do get the coloring and the perming and the complicated cuts. They pay upwards of $100 or $150 per visit to the hair salon!?!

What do you pay? My guess is that you pay too much, unless they're serving champagne, chocolates, and giving you a massage before you leave!

What does your brother, your boyfriend, father, guy friends, any boy you come across pay? Probably MUCH less.

Why is that?

And it is NOT just a hair care phenomenon. I pay more than my brother for chapstick, lotion, clothes... the list could go on and on.

I found a fantastic article detailing "Why it costs more to be a woman." It details everything from the hair and clothes but goes further into housing, insurance, etc.

It also gives great advice - to buy like a man. And, to stop playing their game of the girlified-overpriced products.

So do it.

It will pay off, I'm sure of it.

A Sad Reality: young girls and body image

I went ice skating today. With friends from my Sunday School class and our teacher and her two daughters - one in pre-K, the other in 4th grade.

I brought my camera: purple, easy to operate, enticing to the youngest girl.

She wanted to take pictures. I let her.

At one point, she was photographing her older sister who she no doubt looks up to. Her sister said, "NO! Don't take pictures of my legs."

"Why," I asked her.

"Cause they're ugly," she said.

Completely shocked, I asked this beautiful, young girl before me, "Why do you think your legs are ugly?"

"They're fat," was all she said.

Recently she hit a growth spurt and now she is super tall and stretched out; my mom insists that she is "skinny as a beanpole."

I quickly tried to reassure her that there was not an ounce of fat on her but I could tell by the resolute self-disgust in her face that she did not believe me :(

This broke my heart and as much as I was sure it would break her mother's, I called her later to alert her to this body image issue in hopes that she could nip it in the bud.

Unfortunately, upon recounting the brief discussion, before I could finish she said, "her fat legs?"

Apparently this has been an issue for awhile and even today while driving home from the skating rink, the girl asked her mom, "What is the average weight for a 9 year old girl?"

Though this situation seems awful and perhaps abnormal, it isn't.

It is a sad reality.

"According to figures provided by the country's first residential eating disorder treatment facility, the Renfrew Center, and the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40% of 9-year-old girls diet regularly. According to the Harvard Eating Disorder Center in Boston, 42% of first-, second-, and third-grade girls want to be thinner. Eating disorders also have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness." This came from a great article entitled "More Young Girls Worry About Their Weight."

I remember struggling - though not dieting - when I was younger. One thing that encouraged me AND I think could encourage this young girl and many others who think their legs are "fat" is the old Thunder Thigh, etc. ads from Nike.

Check them out. Show them to the young girls - AND women - that you know.

The Princess and the Frog

I am a feminist but I also adore Disney. Sometimes this proves to be a difficult situation.

I may be 20 years old but that did not quell any of my excitement at the fact that Disney would be releasing (A) a new movie and (B) a princess one!!! It was the first Disney princess in 11 years!?! I grew up with the princesses and loved each one of them for one reason or another.

SIDE NOTE: one reason I know I have always been a feminist - even before I knew what that was - my favorite Disney heroine was Mulan (the defiant fighter in a man's world and very patriarchial society)... followed closely by Pocahontas (who wasn't afraid to defy her father in the name of love and who stood up for what she believed in) and, lastly, Belle (who was brunette, a big fan of books, and didn't fall for the muscle head who was quite the sexist).

Anywho, the current Disney female lead was Tiana, a hard-working waitress who was African American and living in New Orleans. There were concerns about her - the first black princess - from the get go. People were worried she would look to white, had a name that sounded like a slave (her previous name was Maddy), would not be as glamorous as other princesses, etc. A full list of these worries can be found here.

However, that article brings up a good point "Aren't we all just overreacting here? After all, this is an animated movie for kids about people who transform into frogs; the main characters even spend most of their screen time as... amphibians." For the most part, I agree.

Overall, the movie was cute with good music and some memorable characters like the gator who played music and Ray the lightning bug. However, it did not completely wow me. Maybe I have just grown up too much to be mesmerized by the princesses anymore. As a southerner though, I really enjoyed seeing her cooking shrimp or hearing them say "y'all" or seeing the plants and trees that I have grown up around all my life.

I did have a couple issues though.

1) She was still mostly white painted black. She did have a bit bigger butt and lips and maybe nose but mostly this just added to her waist looking even tinier than usual. Disney still sets up that almost impossible beauty standard :(

2) Her prince - A) he wasn't black like her BUT (as the previous linked article points out) his different race is positively showing an interracial relationship B) he was laaaaazy (she was the one that had to nag him to help with cooking, getting back to town, etc).

Overall though, it is pretty cute. I hope this is the first of many more princesses to come from Disney - let's just get them looking a little more like the girls who look up to them!!!

Perks of Having a Penis: The inequality of payment for the pills

Do you use birth control, specificlly the pill?

How much do you pay for it?

Does your insurance cover it?

I actually don't use it but I have a ton of friends who do. It costs them anywhere from 15 to 80 dollars - PER MONTH!?! That is outrageous.



They use it for a ton of reasons beyond simply preventing pregnancy. They use it to treat thier skin, control their cycle, reduce cramps, increase their iron, etc. The Center for Young Women's Health has a complete list medicinal uses of the pill. And, check this out.

Seems like insurance companies should cover it, right? Sadly, many do not.

That may make you mad, but I believethis should really make you MAD: many, if not most of insurance companies - that aren't paying for your birth control - cover Viagra which has no medicinal purpose other than treating erectile disfunction.

ABC did a story on it called "Erections get insurance; Why not the pill?" It says, "" When it comes to health insurance, men have been getting a better deal.' Studies have shown that women of reproductive age spend about two-thirds more than men on out-of-pocket health-care costs. Birth control and reproductive health-care services are believed to account for much of the difference."

Why is this!?! With all the controversy over health care lately, why don't we, as women, stand up and DEMAND this coverage?

The article goes on to explain that "Women's activists say they cannot understand why, given what they see as the 'cost-effectiveness' of birth control, employers and insurers wouldn't jump to cover it. They point to studies that found for every $1 of public funds invested in family planning, $4 to $14 of public funds is saved in pregnancy and health care-related costs. 'Insurance companies have got to realize there's no financial disincentive,' Feldt said. '[Covering contraception] saves so much on the other end. Over the long term, contraception coverage seems to save money.'"


South Carolina doesn't require that the insurance company help or fully cover the pill for women.

Find out if your state does and if they don't call your insurance provider or your local representative and let them know they SHOULD...

Awesome BlissChick Poster

Hello :)

Good old Facebook recently introduced me to this wonderful poster. A friend of mine was tagged in it but I also found the original location of it.

Plus, I posted it here for y'all's lovely viewing.



I hope you like it!

War Zone - a Sad Reality (And what to do about it)

In the last week, our campus has had an alarming and unusally high reporting of community notifications on everything from robbery, indecent exposure, and sexual assualt. It is scary. In beautiful, charming Charleston, I wouldn't think that I should be afraid to walk around by myself.

However, after watching the film "War Zone" in my class this week, I realized, as a woman, I always walk around afraid - of dirty comments, sleazy stares, inappropriate touching or worse, some sort of attack. All women do.

This chilling documentary by Maggie Hadleigh-West articulates this fear and brings the issue to light. The concept of the film was summarized perfectly in a review by the EdChange Multicultural Pavilion: "The context for War Zone is powerful in its simplicity. Hadleigh-West, equipped with a video camera, walks through four major cities (New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and New Orleans) to record the day-to-day abuse—sexualized comments, objectifying stares, uninvited physical contact, and other forms of harassment and sexism—women experience that rob them of the basic right to walk safely and comfortably in their own neighborhoods (or anywhere else). She challenges the continued institutional denial of sexism and its implications by documenting what may be its most pervasive and effective element—that even in the most public spaces, women must operate and function in a war zone.

"But instead of interviewing street harassment scholars or centering her own reactions to and perspectives on her abuse, Hadleigh-West turns the camera, and the heat of the spotlight, on her abusers. The film documents her confrontations with those abusers, but focuses tightly on their reactions to the turning of the tables. Every time she experiences harassment (which runs the gamut from objectifying stares to being followed) she directly turns the camera on the perpetrator. As a result, her abusers as well as (or including) male War Zone viewers, are forced to think and reflect more critically about the ways men maintain dominance and control. More specifically, the film illustrates how men continuously cycle sexism through what many men have traditionally argued to be harmless or natural interactions."

I highly recommend the film. It is scary but impactful.

But here's a fun follow-up. You CAN TAKE ACTION against any of these street harassers. Check out HollaBack Charleston, inspired by Hollaback NYC whose motto is "If you can't slap 'em, Snap 'em." You can vent, take pictures/video, and warn other women to steer clear of certain creepers and locations where they could face the annoyance and/or danger of street harassment.

So, do it :)

Stand up for yourself and give those harrassers a taste of their own medicine!

Awesome Local Non-Profit

The Center for Women is almost 20 years old and doing great things for women in the local area. Four fantastic women work there. They are a pro-active non-profit assisting women to achieve personal and professional success. They do this through a number of ways including several events such as a writers forum and purse auction. Check out their other events. Support this great organization!

Wake Up and Smell the Wage Gap

The Wage Gap. Please tell me you know what I’m talking about. AND, please tell me you are pissed off.

The Wage Gap is the difference in what women and men make for the same work. I.e. it is not just that more men are engineers and more women are secretaries – another blog post altogether. It is talking about a male professional and a female one, within the same field and position, making entirely different salaries.

For example, my Public Relations textbook Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics updated just this year for the 9th edition shows (on page 32) that with experience of more than five years, men make an average of $124,000 while women make $85,000 doing the SAME thing!?! Sucks since this is what I want to go into :(

But it is not just PR that has this problem. Across the board, women make 77 cents to every man’s dollar. This is not right. I have spoken to some of my friends that say, oh well that is not too bad, right.

Wrong.

Nerd that I am, I like to explain this using a school analogy. Hopefully this will help paint the picture of how incredibly unfair this wage gap is. Let’s say you are in a class and your teacher returns your tests. For the exact same answers and content on that test, the teacher decides to give the boys in the class a 100 while all the girls can get – at best – a 77. Um, hello, an A verses a C. That is NOT fair!!!

In fact it is sad. I have a twin brother and we are both to graduate in May 2011. He will make more money that me because he is a boy – and because he is an engineering major but… different blog post again ;)

What truly is sad is that, in my textbook Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives also updated for the 5th edition this year, page 310 states that the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963 to ensure that women would receive equal pay for equal work. At the time, women were earning 59 cents for every man’s dollar.

Do the math: 46 years and we have gained 18 cents. That is .39 of a penny we have gained each year. Aren’t we worth more than that? Minority women make noticeably less that this.

Fortunately, President Obama has noticed. His first bill signed into law this January was the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to try to once and for all bring about equal pay for equal work. Hopefully this will help.

Until then, wake up and smell the wage gap. And do something about it! Even if it is just to talk to your friends or ask for a raise or write to your representative. YOU DESERVE IT!!!

Pick of the Litter: It's all about perspective

As already mentioned, there are a ton of girls on my campus. In fact, across the nation, there are more girls than guys in higher education. And on this earth, there are more females than males: only 51% to 49%; don’t freak out ;) Of course, this can lead to more competition between us for guys and it certainly gives guys their choice of the girl they’d like to be with.

BUT, I recently realized this wonderful turning of the tables: we have the pick of the litter too :) Now, I’m not suggesting we all turn lesbian; what I’m saying is we can shift our perspective.

All these girls are a positive thing. We have the pick of the litter for good girl friends. Those are hard to come by. We don’t have to settle for half-hearted, ill-fitted relationships or acquaintances. We can weed out the girls that grate our nerves or have dissimilar interests and keep the ones who we truly enjoy being with.

These relationships are much more worth our time and attention because lets face it, unless we meet our future husbands, we are not likely to keep in touch with many of our dates from college. However, good girlfriends can last a long time – if we have the opportunity to find those that really suit us.

They are the ones to pour our secrets, ideas, and love into because they are trustworthy and reciprocate it. Not that boys can’t do that BUT we will probably only settle down with one guy and we don’t have to select just one girl friend.

Fortunately, we have the pick of the litter here. So look at it that way ladies, if you don’t currently have a boyfriend (or even if you do) to gush over and give all your time and attention to, SHARE that with a good girl friend. Call her randomly or give her a note or compliment or plan a girl’s night.

Good girl friends are likely to stick around longer than any boy so make a wise investment: sisters before misters!

Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story"

Overall, I enjoyed Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” because it presented a ton of information, highlighted poignant stories, had great editing, and infused humor but I had two complaints being a slight bias and a lack of action for the audience.

To begin, I did enjoy the film overall. There was so much information in it from the beginning comparison of today’s US culture with the Ancient Roman Empire down to the very end with cool quotes interspersed throughout the rolling of the cast and credits. He shared a ton of numbers on CEO pay, net profits, foreclosures, loans, etc. Though it was a lot to absorb, he presented the numbers pretty clearly using several graphs and charts to compare and show the rise and fall of numbers. Some numbers did not need a visual though because standing alone they had enough of an impact; for example, he said something like every seven seconds a home is foreclosed in the US!?!

Just as impactful were the few poignant profiles he chose to go in-depth on, i.e. the fired workers staying in their window factory until they received their pay (which was only $6,000), the foreclosure salesman whose company was named after vultures and bottomfeeders, the evicted family who reclaimed their home with the help of their neighbors (I started to cry when I realized they were overjoyed for reentering a home that was small, dilapidated, and under furnished), and the family who moved out of their home and had to burn their own furniture to make money (only $1,000) from the bank who had basically stolen their property that had been in their family for decades. All of this broke my heart. I cannot believe this is America and that others are suffering so much while I am blessed with my current, secure and spoiled lifestyle.

All of these stories had more of an impact, in my opinion, because of his superb editing skills. The music building was fantastic as was the overlay of voices with older films whether they were of ancient Rome, his family growing up, or old ads.

Lastly, I also enjoyed the humor he added in to soften some of that saddening material. In particular, I laughed when I saw the doorman of one of the big Wall Street buildings physically pushing back on the lobby door to prevent Moore from entering, his unreeling of the crime scene tape around Wall Street, and when he informed the Wall Street men that he came to take back the money but he had other bags (with the dollar sign drawn on them) since he didn’t think 10 million would fit in just one.

However, I did feel that there was a little party line bias throughout the film, as to be expected with Michael Moore. Since that goes both ways, I suppose few Republicans gave him the opportunity to speak with them but I did notice a large selection of Democrat interviewees who probably tend to agree with his ideas. Furthermore, in criticizing the presidents, he went straight from Regan to Bush and left out Clinton – whether this was from lack of incriminating economic evidence or Moore’s decision to omit information, I don’t know. However, he was mostly biased against big banks and inefficient, deceitful politicians which I agreed with. For example, he did expose lies of Democrats including Chris Dodd so he was not incredibly one-sided.

The biggest issue I had with the film, however, was its lack of an action plan for the audience. His film, whether entirely true or altered with a bit of artistic license was undeniably persuasive. The problem is, those feelings fade pretty quickly after seeing the film and most audience members won’t take the time to figure out how to fight back on their own but they likely would if they knew how. I loved a statement he made near the end about how he refused to live in our country when it was like this and that he didn’t plan to leave our country, therefore implying that he would change it. He then invited the audience to change it with him but never said how. I know the film was already lengthy but I believe it lost a lot of its persuasive power by ending before listing a number people could call or a website they could visit or a list of who to contact to complain or what to do to have the most impact with your own money, etc.

That last bit of information would have convinced me more than anything else on how I would change my behavior in the future as a result of his film. Now I am just a little more afraid for the economic future of our nation. I’m also a little depressed at the condition of my fellow Americans who are living in tents or boarded out of their own homes or the people who do the boarding up for their living and face that ridicule or guilt everyday having to do that. I would feel more empowered and take action had he only told me how.

Off the Southern Belle Timeline

Being from South Carolina, I was just subconsciously aware of the fact that a Southern Belle’s timeline is go to college, get married, and start a family. It was so ingrained in my mind that just recently when speaking to my mom about living arrangements for this year and after graduation, I mentioned something about how it might change if I was married. She simply looked at me and said, “I don’t think you’ll be getting married right after college unless you find someone really soon.” Really soon as in like yesterday.

Though depressed for a millisecond, I then did a bit of math – not my strong point, obviously because upon reflection I realized my time was pretty limited. Coming up on the halfway point of my Junior year I realized that would mean that I would have to begin dating, fall in love, get engaged and plan a wedding within a year and a half… dubious if not downright impossible.

But this “duh” moment for me has sunk in and I feel a new sense of freedom. Now I don’t feel the pressure that every new guy I meet might be or must be “the one.” I can daydream about what I want to do, where I want to go, etc. NOT who I will be with – now don’t get me wrong, I will still ponder the potential of my new crushes but in a new more relaxed way. I have had a paradigm shift; at least for a while, I am out of marriage mode.

I don’t think I am even ready to get married within a year and a half. Most of our generation isn’t: The average age to wed in the US in 2007 was 26 for a woman and almost 28 for a man.
So be free and get off that Southern Belle timeline.

Porch Pondering

Porch sitting is a sport of sorts in South Carolina – especially when coupled with people watching which is an undisputed sport all over. With this lovely weather lately, I have been honing in on my skills in both porch sitting and people watching.

While doing so, I happened to notice a gender difference. Before this cold weather sets in, several runners have been taking advantage of baring all that they can – guys without any shirts, girls in just a sports bra. Now that is not what I am complaining about ;)

What bugged me is I notice on a regular basis that the girls get honked at and whistles or comments from cars while guys might get a few head turns and perhaps a very occasional honk. Why is this?

Trust me, the guys look just as good to warrant the attention but it hardly ever comes. Why this double standard?

Perhaps girls are always passive and accept it. I am a runner and have countless times heard a rude comment or a honk but I have NEVER flipped the bird or yelled or anything to fight back. Furthermore, I have NEVER EVER honked or made any rude comments at guys.

I would prefer that the guys would quit with their comments and honks but in the mean time since that is unlikely to happen in the near future what if we were to give the guys a taste of their own medicine. Would they just take a comment or honk as an ego stroke or feel objectified or not even care?

I generally don’t follow the eye-for-an-eye theology but this time I believe it could do one of two things: it could either empower us where two wrongs do make a right or it could disgust us enough in doing that to others that we will be less passive in accepting it ourselves.

Give it a shot and let me know how it goes…

What Women (and Men) Want

Two hour tea dates at Starbucks, for me at least, are conducive to wonderful and often enlightening discussions. I had once recently with two of my friends – one is married and the other is in a long-term relationship – and we were discussing the difference and often difficulty of communication between the sexes.

There is a TON of information on this topic – so many books, talk shows, news reports, movies, songs, research studies, etc. However, I think we overanalyze and complicate the matter.

Save your time and effort. I believe my friend, Laura, who has the boyfriend, has discovered the difference. She said the most simple and profound thing – women just want to be loved and men want respect.

For example, if she and her boyfriend are arguing and she says, “I respect your opinion and where you’re coming from but I disagree because of…” she can see an immediate difference in the argument. Similarly, when he says something like “I don’t really understand or agree but I still love you and I want to work through this” she feels somewhat satisfied and their anger fades.

Even outside of arguments, I believe this simple truth applies. Girls love affection and to be loved or valued in intimate relationships but also as mothers, employers, group members, etc. Men desire respect as romantic partners but also in the workforce, the church, group activities, etc.

This is NOT to say that women do not value respect and men never need love but in the grand scheme of things, I think this simple truth if carried out could make for an easier, fuller communication between the sexes.

Dating… or lack thereof: Balancing being a Southern Belle and Feminist AND single

For those of you who don’t know, the College of Charleston girl-to-guy ratio is very slanted – in the boys’ favor. This amounts to a very competitive dating scene and the boys have their pick of the litter.

Being a Southern Belle, I like to say that I have too much clothes and too much class to attract the attention of any guys on this campus. However, I was hoping my Junior year (this year), the boys would begin to settle down and be more interested in a wholesome girl like myself and ready for a relationship rather than just a good time.

It seems I was too hopeful. So now I am in a bit of a predicament, due almost entirely to a lack of patience ;) I would love to date but I don’t quite know how to go about it. The Southern Belle in me feels the guy should make the first move. I often reference the movie “He’s Just Not that Into You” which is basically my dating tutorial now. In the movie, the male lead repeatedly tells the girl “If a guy wants to make it happen, he’ll make it happen.”

Though I like the clarity that this dating stance would provide, I am very underwhelmed at the boys ability to make it happen. This is where the Feminist in me emerges. I say to heck with waiting; if I want to make it happen, I’ll make it happen. But then, you risk seeming desperate, promiscuous, or just plain pesky.

So here I am, balancing being a Southern Belle and Feminist and SINGLE. Any advice is welcomed ;)

Mona Lisa Smile and Advertisements

This past weekend, I saw Mona Lisa Smile which was a wonderful movie about a Feminist art history professor at Wellesley in 1953-54. She deals with the school’s and her student’s traditional, conservative views on women, marriage, birth control, affairs, etc. The movie was great and I highly recommend it.

One scene in particular was my favorite: pay close attention from 4:10 to 9:30. As a Communication – Media Studies major, I have an interest in advertising. In the movie, the art history professor, Katherine Watson (played by Julia Roberts) addresses advertisements as art. A student objects and she ignores, stating that years from now, people will see those ads representing the “portrait” of women in that day. At the end of the movie, during the list of credits and cast, a slection of 1950s media and advertisements gives a good idea as to what that portrait of an ideal woman was; pay close attention from 2:10 to 4:50

So here we are today, over a half century later, and what do we see. Looking back in those ads of the smiling housewife – how far have we really advanced? Women are still seen in the home, cleaning/cooking, in need of beauty tools (girdles, makeup, hair products, etc.) and sexualized.

How many times do we see this with men? Fathers taking care of their children? Men making the meal for dinner? Dad’s doing the laundry? Guys in need of nail polish, makeup, etc.? Men sexualized? Sure that may be happening a bit more today but still, it is hardly a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of ads portraying women that way in the majority of today’s media.

Here is a then and now comparison of some ads from the 50s and today:

In the home:

Cleaning/Cooking:

Beauty:

Sexualized:

How far have we really progressed in the last fifty years? In another half-century, will we have progressed any more? What will they say of us, our portrait of the ideal woman in advertisements?

Refuting the Top 10 Feminist Stereotypes

To begin with, I’d like to address the type of feminist that I am and, in so doing, prove that there is not only one way to be a feminist. People, especially in the South and even in my family, throw out those same old tired stereotypes of the hairy, lesbian, man-hater. I can assure you that I do not fit that description and neither do most of the feminists I have met.

In May of this year, DJ Nelson posted a list of the top 10 Feminist Stereotypes on the All Diva Media blog. They included the following:
1. Feminists hate men
2. Feminists hate the idea of family
3. Feminists are masculine and unattractive
4. Feminists hate God
5. Feminists don’t shave
6. Feminists are all pro-choice
7. Feminists can’t be stay at home moms
8. Feminists whine about everything
9. Men are not feminists
10. All people who label themselves as feminists believe in the exact same things

I refute every one of these stereotypes because:

1. I do not hate men but rather have about 3-7 crushes going on at any given time and definitely enjoy the company of men on a friendship and romantic level.

2. I LOVE my family and fully intend to have one of my own one day, biologically or by adoption.
3. I am about as girly girl as you can get. As for being unattractive, I like to think that I am not but I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder… and the media which I will address in later blogs I am sure. I certainly fit some of the media’s standards of “beauty” by staying fit, fashionable, and manicured with makeup, painted nails, styled hair, etc. but that is the Southern Belle in me wanting to be dolled up - As for if that is my willing choice or a socialized requirement that I subconsciously feel the need to meet, I am still processing. Either way I enjoy being girly and definitely break that masculine stereotype.

4. I most definitely do not hate God but love and worship him to the best of my ability as an active Christian. I do not feel that Feminism and Faith are mutually exclusive.

5. I shave regularly and feel bad for boys that don’t because the thought of armpit hair grosses me out and I feel like it would be a nuisance. I do question why women have to shave and why men, as a collective gender – not just the occasional swimmer - never do. Perhaps there will be a later blog on that.

6. I have not fully made up my mind on this. I hate the thought of an innocent life being ended before it has the chance to reach full potential but I also hate the idea of a woman and her body being controlled by the nearly all male government possibly forcing an unwanted pregnancy on a woman AND the less than loved/protected/encouraged/provided for existence that child might face. I often fall back to the separation of Church and State in that the government should not be influenced by religious doctrine so I would technically take a pro-choice stance though on a personal level I would never encourage abortion.

7. Feminists certainly can be stay at home moms – look to the first wave of the women’s movement in the 1800s. It was begun by middle class, white women, many of whom were stay at home moms who felt oppressed in that role and chose to change it, essentially becoming feminists. Women today can do the very same thing AND women can be feminists but still be a stay at home mom if they CHOOSE to and don’t feel oppressed. In fact, if I am afforded the opportunity to do just that and be with my future children while they are young and reaching so many firsts in their life, I will more than likely take it.

8. I don’t whine about everything but I do whine BUT who doesn’t. Don’t men whine? Don’t normal women whine? Don’t racists, sexists, politicians, homeless, teachers, doctors, Christians, Muslims, Americans, Australians, [insert any people group] whine!?! Furthermore, if one put the shoe on the other foot they might see why the other group has a reason to “whine” or perhaps more accurately, “pose a threat to the status quo” causing those in power to belittle the submissive group as “whiners” simply to preserve their position of power?

9. Sure men are feminists. I know some. You probably do too. We need more of them.

10. Heck no, we don’t all agree! But who does? See number 8; do they all agree? No, and why should they… that would be terribly boring.

Having said that, you may disagree with what I have just presented as my opinion and that is fine – that is Feminist in fact ;) I don’t expect you to agree with all that I have just mentioned and that is my point. Just as my answers break the mold of those stereotypes, others’ answers will break the mold of my answers further destroying those stereotypes. So go ahead and prove them wrong; we don’t all fit into one itty bitty box.