Why Feminism Cannot Die

The following is an excerpt from Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2000).
Feminists are just women who don't want to be treated like shit." Su, an Australian woman interviewed for the 1996 anthology DIY Feminism says. In the most basic sense, feminism is exactly what the dictionary says it is: the movement for social, political, and economic equality of men and women. Public opinion polls confirm that when people are given this definition, 67 percent say they agree with feminism. We prefer to add to that seemingly uncontroversial statement the following: feminism means that women have the right to enough information to make informed choices about their lives. And because "women" is an all encompassing term that includes middle-class white women, rich black lesbians, and working-class straight Asian women, an organic intertwining with movements for racial and economic equality, as well as gay rights, is inherent to the feminist mandate. Some sort of allegiance between women and men is also an important component of equality. After all, equality is a balance between the male and female with the intention of liberating the individual.

I got all that information above from www.feminist.com

I agree with the above but I have seen that feminism encompasses so much more. In everyday life we see women who break the mold to survive, who decide that it is not OK for them to starve, or to be quiet or to lose hope. They fight each day for something new, better, safer. In my interest in tyring to make a change in my corner, I am going to start law school in the fall. I am interested in Immigration, International and possibly Trade law. My friend asked me once what I wanted to repair and I had no answer. Where can the repair begin? Women and children? The sick? The hungry? Aren't they all the same? Aren't the most sick and hungry the women and their children? The ones viewed as weaker, less important?
People often wonder when they realise that I am feminist in my thoughts, actions, what I will not allow to be done to me and to those around me and they seem surprised. They are like I didn't know you were feminist. And I am like WHY? Because I wear a bra, make up and respect my father? I am more of the mind that as long as a girl can do whatever she wants, get educated, is aware of the possibility that this can be done and there are no prejudicial obstacles in her way of accomplishing her dream, then no one will feel my wrath. I am angered by the stereotypes that people allow to rule their lives. Stereotypes is another reason I am no longer at ease but that will be a topic for another day. As a Black woman from Nigeria, I have seen the feminism in many women around me.African women are formidable on some next level ish. They sacrifice, they never step down and even when they are stooped over by oppression, they move on. THAT IS FEMINISM. Many of them are moms, wives, businesswomen, students, and they still find the time to talk about relevant issues that do not involve any of the roles they fulfil. So as far as women, if enough are empowered, wonders can and will happen.
When I was a child, I thought these Nigerian women were silly. They let culture rule their lives, they did not stand up to fight the ill treatment from their husbands, or in-laws, they took it in stride but as I am older I see their feminism. they refused to be driven from their homes. In seeming to conform, they inadvertently taught their children about empowerment, sacrifice for the greater good and pride. I once read a book called COLONIZE THIS! . It was a collection of short stories that real women wrote about how they showed their feminism against a society that wanted to keep them demure, pure virgins, who cooked, cleaned and did’t mind being given a venereal disease by their cheating husbands and boyfriends. Many of their stories would not be described as radical or news worthy or earth shattering but they were strong, many even silent in their determination not to be victimized and quiet in their victory because they were NOT surprised that they rose above it. THAT IS FEMINISM. It is a spirit or state of mind when a woman would no longer be contained or confined. It is the right to freedom in every aspect.
We need this state of mind to remind us to stand up for justice every time even in the small things, the things that tug at our minds when all is quiet before the household falls asleep, the things we do not have the courage to address. Feminism, helps us as women and men who have embraced this spirit to be fair, just and accountable to ourselves first, and when we can no longer live with our conciences, then maybe we will do something.