Feminism

I am just going to say it upfront... I am not a feminist, I would not want that classification associated with my identity. The definition of feminism is the movement organized around the belief in the social, economical, and political equality of the sexes. I believe in this definition, I believe the feminist movement was much needed from it's first origination in 1792 and ongoing. I am so thankful for those women who paved the path for what I am able to have now. What I do not like is what feminism has become to most people. Feminism has become a tool to separate women, not celebrate them. I think that we are biologically (socially, emotionally) different from men (THANK GOD) and the many differences should be celebrated. My problem with feminism as a movement is what it has become to most people, and that is an attempt to confuse equality with sameness. We are not the same. I don't want to raise my children to be ashamed of being a boy or a girl. I want to teach my daughter that she can be anything she wants but I also want to teach her to love being a woman. Reference this article in the NY Times "According to theories of gender constancy, until they’re about 6 or 7, children don’t realize that the sex they were born with is immutable. They believe that they have a choice: they can grow up to be either a mommy or a daddy. Some psychologists say that until permanency sets in kids embrace whatever stereotypes our culture presents, whether it’s piling on the most spangles or attacking one another with light sabers. What better way to assure that they’ll always remain themselves? If that’s the case, score one for Mooney. By not buying the Princess Pull-Ups, I may be inadvertently communicating that being female (to the extent that my daughter is able to understand it) is a bad thing."
So until feminism doesn't mean I have to stop shaving my armpits and start driving a Subaru Forester ... I don't want to be associated.