Opening a can of worms

I had a good friend this week bring up the topic of "feminism".  Now, I've never been the type of person that needs to label things.  Before The RacDad and I were married, we were "just best friends" (which still gets brought up in jest by my parents.)  This conversation, however, piqued my interest and brought a lot of good and interesting ideas into play.

I personally will never say that people need to be treated equal.  Individuals are not equal.  Men really are different than women.  The varying generations are all different from each other.  So, it's really impossible for everyone to be equal.  What is important though, is fairness.  People deserve to be treated fairly.  Life isn't black and white and people are not made with cookie cutters.

What is feminism?  Who can be a feminist?  Is this a bad thing or a good thing?  These are all thoughts that ran through my head at the introduction of the topic.  I've never thought of myself as a feminist.  I guess it's because when I think feminism, I think of hippies putting on their "power suits", trying to break through the glass ceiling in the 80s.  I think of bra burning, "damn the man" types of extremists.  Turns out though, I've always been a feminist.  And so is my husband.  What?  Yeah, I would say that my husband is a feminist too.  What I learned from this very enlightening debate, is that people of any sex can be a feminist.  Feminism is really supporting and empowering women in a way that encourages fairness.  A feminist is anyone who supports women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.  Feminists can be working parents or stay at home parents too.  We can celebrate the differences while treating each other like humans in a fair manner.

Now many people will argue that feminism isn't important or needed anymore.  They will say that it's turned into a bad thing.  I wonder if it's just because they have been fortunate enough to experience fairness in their lives and live around fair-minded people.  Personally, I have not been so sheltered.  That's another post for another day though.  Not to say that my experiences have been bad; they have just shaped how I view the world around me.   These experiences have broken me out of my shell and provoked me to be an advocate for fairness.