This assignment was to tell about the day we identified ourselves feminist. Well, let me start with what a feminist is. A feminist is someone who fights for equality of the sexes. She is a strong willed big hearted person. Her heart beats the same as any other heart. Her heart just knows that some things cannot be over looked though.
I will say I have always thought of myself somewhat of a feminist. I have always had a mother and a grandmother who have told me I can do anything I want. If I want a man’s job I can have it. If I want to stay at home and have babies and cook and clean I can, as long as it is my choice.
The day this all hit home for me was not too long ago when someone told me I could not do something. I have never been told I could not do something and this was not acceptable to me. I have a dream of becoming a professor or university employee with Ph.D. behind her name, and if I do not make it that far it will not be for lack of effort. I told that person that I could do anything I wanted to do because that is what I had always been told. They proceeded to tell me that because I am single mother that I needed to focus more on my child and not stay in school until I was 30 and then spend another 10 to 15 years trying to find a place to hire me. Talking all this into consideration I told them with little politeness that I was a woman. I came from a line of strong women who never accomplished their dreams because they were told they could not. So if it was the last thing I ever accomplished in life it was going to be that I show my son no matter what that he will know that just because his mother was a single mother or a single woman made her anything less than a wonderful human being.
They proceeded to tell me my women studies class was turning me into a feminist and I had not been it but a few weeks. I looked at him and said yes sir it is. It is showing me that I have every right to pursue my dreams and make them reality.
Women with children--especially single mothers--are always expected to give up their dreams. When my daughter got pregnant at 19, I was sad for her; I knew life would always be a little bit harder. But I also knew her life wasn't over. I encouraged her and promised I'd stand by her, and now she's in school. Sometimes I'm a little jealous; I didn't have any help. My husband wanted me to be happy, but he was also insecure. Every semester, he made some snide comment about me going to school. Once, he even told my father I was being selfish. 3 of the 4 children I am raising aren't even mine, but I'm still expected to give up my goals and dreams to care for them. I'm still working to fulfill my dreams. It's hard, but I think we can do it. Good luck.
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