Tag Archives: feminism

An Unpopular Opinion

Good morning/afternoon! Today I will be writing what I realise will be a controversial post. I would like to apologise if this post is in any way shape or form offensive. I would also like to issue a disclaimer: this is my own personal opinion, all opinions in this post are my own. I am by no stretch of the imagination a qualified scholar on any of the issues in this post nor do I know what it feels like to be personally persecuted or to watch my own be persecuted for any of them and I am aware of this fact. These opinions have been formed by conversations, essays, articles, speeches and personal experiences. Please respect my opinion as I respect yours.

Now moving on to the post!

I for a while now have understood that I am lucky. I am lucky because I have a house to live in. I can walk down the street without feeling afraid. I can wear what I please. Have the opinions I have. Love who I want. Achieve what I set my mind to. And ultimately, be who I please.

It is not like that for everyone.

In this post I am once again voicing an opinion.

Most of the time you will find me agreeing with the activists, scholars, lawyers etc but I do have one thing where I will beg to differ, and I have been seeing it for years, in speeches, books, conferences, rallies even TV shows…..

In order to be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, the indigenous people, disabled people etc you have to believe that we are all the same. That you have to be comfortable talking about these issues. That you have to be willing to forget the past for a better future.

I don’t believe any of these statements to be true. I believe in order to be an ally of the ostracised groups you must accept that we ARE different. That we aren’t the same, we come from different places, we do things differently, we believe different things and our appearances will differ but that’s ok.

I also believe that it is 100% normal to be uncomfortable talking about these issues. For example I used to be extremely uncomfortable talking about racism, do I still experience mild discomfort talking about it? Yes. Does it mean I’m racist? No. Well, I don’t think so anyways. Being uncomfortable is normal, and it is ok. If someone is discussing something with you and you feel uncomfortable. Good. Be uncomfortable. Because in my understanding it means you care. Think about this. If I went to a racist and began discussing racism and they were not at all uncomfortable the chances are they do not care. But if I went to a “racist” and began talking about racism and they were uncomfortable they probably do deep down feel some form of empathy.

You may then ask if they do care why do they continue to be that way? And may I add that, that is a very good question. It probably means that there is some deeper issue. That they think being that way will be of profit to them. If you were poor and could barely afford food for you, your husband and your children, and the only source of income was your job you would be feeling pretty keen to keep that job. So what happens if discrimination stops and Eddie the transgender aboriginal woman who is 10x more qualified than you are, can now take you’re job because she’s know longer being discriminated against? What happens to you and your family?

From what I understand there is a population of people under this banner. That are afraid of what change means for them. Some of them have very good reason to be afraid. What is needed is a safety net. A way to look after those people, but that’s another days discussion. My point is that they probably do care, they are just afraid.

Lastly I want to mention the belief of “forget the past for a better future” or some variation of that phrase. Our history is what makes us. I will agree that it is ugly and wrong and filled to the brim with injustice, lies and violence, but it is still there. It will always be there. There is no hiding that white man invaded most of the nations on the planet, that they killed and tortured. I’m sorry but there isn’t any hiding that there were slaves. And for my country, Australia, there is no hiding that for many years the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were regarded as plants, not only that but in their own nation where they had been living peacefully for 40 000 years.

I know it is horrible, I too was ashamed to think that I am white. That my ancestors committed all these horrible crimes. But you know what? I shouldn’t. I am a firm believer that we should not feel guilty about the crimes committed in the past, but feel responsible for the reconciliation of all the different people.

I think that forgetting our past is going to solve as much as removing Hatshepsut from the Egyptian line of pharaohs did (For those of you who don’t know that story Hatshepsut was the first woman pharoah. Her and evidence of her reign was found and she was put back in the history books). We need to remember what happened and learn from it. To use it as motivation to heal the wound. We were never perfect, and never will be. But rather than burying our failures as the human race we need to understand what went wrong and learn.

Thank you for reading this post! I know it’s kind of long. Sorry. But this is just an opinion of mine I wished to share. I would like to close this post by saying I fully respect the opinions of people with those beliefs. I would also like to say to any of the indigenous, black, disabled, LGBTQ+, female, lower socioeconomic, (etc) people who may be reading this post, that I respect you as I would any other human being. I hope that reading this post and all the others on this site adds another name to the list of people who are your allies.

And to everyone have an amazing day!

What is Feminism?

Hey every one today I am writing a post on a cause that is quite important to me. I haven’t talked about this on my blog before but feminism is something I am exceedingly passionate about. No I haven’t been treated unfairly. No, there isn’t any personal trauma behind the belief. I originally found something about it in a book. I did some extra research and figured considering I am female it would be pretty stupid not to want equality for myself and the billions of other women out there.

Before I start this post I would like to give you my definition of feminism. Feminism is wanting equal rights. Personally I know that being a feminist is often quite misunderstood. Saying that I’m a feminist doesn’t mean that I hate all men. It doesn’t mean I want all the power to the women. It means that I want equality. It doesn’t mean that men won’t have to give up some of their power, because they will. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to disagree with them sometimes, because I will. But this is all part of it. Feminism is believing that women and men are equals. That we should be treated the same. Whether that’s what we wear, the title we’re given, how we treat one another or how much we’re payed.

I know when I talk about feminism that a lot of people envision angry women parading up and down busy city streets with posters in arm. I know some people automatically think about discrimination against girls who want to play soldiers or wear shorts instead of skirts. Some people see women working alongside men in major corporate jobs. Yes that is all apart of it. But it is apart of a much bigger picture.

One thing that is often misinterpreted is that feminism is only about girls. It’s not. Feminism includes letting boys wear dresses or play with barbies. It includes getting rid of that stereotypes that has been set for us, that boys have to be manly and girls have to be girly. That boys can’t cry and girls have to be lady-like. I’m not saying you can’t be those things I’m saying you should have a choice. I know that some people say that we do have a choice, but really we don’t. It’s either we fit into this mould that the world has shaped or we face discrimination, bullying and a hardship because we are different. Feminism is about freedom and liberation. It’s about tearing down those moulds that society has set for us. Not just for women but for the human race as a whole.

The Oxford dictionary defines feminism as; “The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.”

In summary feminism is something that is quite often misunderstood. I felt it was important to correct some misunderstandings that people have about this particular topic.

I would like to thank you for reading this post. Wishing you a wonderful day!