Quote Originally Posted by Zen View Post
I see it as taking advantage of the opportunities that the feminist movement helped create.
Some plant the tree, some sit in it's shade.
It rankles me that you see what I do as "sitting the shade". I guess I should have said that chosing the career I did and then busting my rear to succeed in it was no cake walk. This was particularly obvious when I was in school and was surrounded by 'old boy' professors (and one arab one-who clearly had REAL issues with women in my field) who daily said things that would have made many women question their choice. I took it as a challenge and laughed at their small mindedness. While I may not be blazing brand new trails, I'm certainly doing everything in my power to help further clear those early paths so that there is plenty of room for more women to follow in my footsteps. And yes, I take every advantage that being a woman affords me.

My point about being a feminist is exactly what Zen pointed out...by my taking advantage of being a woman and working it to it's full potential, I guess I can't be considered a feminist. Like so many have said here, a feminist is about equality for all. It's really too bad because truly 'working the system' to advance an idea is an area that I can testify offers great opportunity to futher the cause. I believe that women (and all minorities) should be able to do whatever they choose to do. I don't buy into 'feminism' as a classification for me because the very nature of the definition makes the choices that I made invalid or somehow unsavory, if you will.


And for Oakleaf and others who expressed frustration at the idea that some of us feel that feminists look down on stay at home moms, I would like to point out that back when I was an impressionable young girl and first forming my views about how women fit into this world, the feminists that I was exposed to DID look down on stay at home moms and woman who took traditional female roles in the work world (like stewardesses). I understand why they did and I also understand that 1) not every feminist felt that way and 2) it's very different now, but the fact of the matter is, these early radical women were my first exposure to the idea and they were influencial in how I developed my views. That isn't to say that they have any bearing on why I don't consider myself a feminist now, but it is the reason I didn't jump on the band-wagon back then.

And I do agree with Irulan that there is absolutely a disdain towards women who choose to stay home and raise childern AND there is also disdain towards those who chose to have careers and not ever have children. Where did this huge barrier/line come from? Why does it have to be either or? Again, I know that most people here don't feel this way and I'm not blaming feminists for this...I'm just saying that there is a big barrier there and the idea that women can choose EITHER path is clearly not widely accepted yet. With all the negative connotations associated with the word 'feminism', perhaps a different movement would be more effective?

I'm hereby declaring myself a 'humanist'. Anyone wanna join me?