Part Three (of Three)

Despite these positive responses, I only rarely tell people the serious reason I’m a feminist. For a long time I never talked about being date raped because, like many girls, I didn’t realize what happened to me was rape. There were no strangers, no weapons, and no date rape drugs. There was only a very long argument, which began when I said that I wasn’t in the mood for sex. My boyfriend yelled at me until I started to wonder if I was really being mean by refusing to do “just one little thing for him”. I wasn’t sure what I had done wrong, but I knew it had to be really bad since he was so angry. Eventually I felt ashamed enough about my “nasty and ridiculous” behavior that I stopped saying no. Over a year later I read an article about acquaintance rape and finally realized I had been justified after all in not wanting to have sex. Today, I am a feminist because I think that if I had been then I would have known my rights and because I think if he had been then he would have respected my choice.

Feminism remains essential in today’s world, because women and others continue to be oppressed by the structure and assumptions of our society. It is my hope that by encouraging everyone to work towards a feminist cause that they feel passionate about we will be able to create a movement strong enough to make a dramatic positive impact. If everyone were to become a little bit of a feminist, I think it would start to dismantle the constructions of aggressive males and acquiescing females, making our world safer and more egalitarian.

I personally want to help enable women to say both yes and no to sex, because I think consent is an essential component of achieving control over our bodies. We will never truly be free, nor equal, until women are given sovereignty of our bodies.

That’s me. Now why and how are you a feminist?