I am a feminist

I guess that's pretty obvious to anyone who knows me. But it's time to think about what being a feminist means to me.

First, I want equal rights for women. Don't fool yourselves: we don't have equal rights. The ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) is still not part of the constitution; women still don't get paid the same for doing the exact same job; some companies still discriminate against women, especially married women, assuming that they are on the baby track.

I want women to have equal opportunities. I want women not to be judged by whether they are married or not, whether they have kids or not, whether they fit some arbitrary definition of beauty. Things like this should not be happening. If we're going to bring marital status into a political debate, then let's open the discussion up to those who are on their second, third, fourth spouse.

I want women to stop fighting amongst themselves when we make different choices. There is no one right choice. There's what's right for each of us. I want it to be ok for a woman, or a man for that matter, to take time off from work to raise children without being looked down on for not being 'modern' enough. I want it to be as ok for a woman as it is for a man to NOT stay home and to keep working.

I want women to have equal access to good health care. That doesn't always happen, especially with the current legislative assault (both nationally and in Indiana and other states) on Planned Parenthood and other providers of women's healthcare. And let's not forget most clinical trials and research for diseases, new medications and other treatments have typically used male subjects and just been extrapolated for women, often with disastrous results.

Equal rights for women doesn't take anything away from men other than maybe some privilege. And I don't see a problem with that. If someone gets extra privileges, it should be because they have earned them, not because of an accident of birth like being born male, white, or rich.

I want it not to be ok for women to be treated like property, not even in movies and tv. I want the culture of rape to not be implicitly accepted. I want my sons to grow up respecting women.