We've come a long way, ladies!

Sometimes I only get the chance to blog once a week. And since I can't always get up the motivation to think of a topic, it's nice to have other friends to blog with so we can take turns. I enjoy being challenged to write about stuff that might not normally come to mind and also reading everyone else's thoughts on the same topic. Blog Project 3.0 has been going on for about a year now, even though one of the group members changed after a few months. I love blogging with this group and I hope we can continue to inspire each other.

This week Froggie chose the topic: Feminism

First, read what everyone else had to share on this topic:
Darwin Shrugged
Froggie
Moma Rock

The word "feminism" has been around for a long time. Longer than I've been in existence. However, I have always just looked at it as a concept instead of something that had a definition to it. It seemed so broad and all-encompassing. And I don't want to make generalizations or stereotypical labels on what I think a feminist is. So I decided to go straight to the dictionary Internet to get the real meaning.

Merriam-Webster defines Feminism as...

*The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities

*Organized activity in support of women's rights and interests

Wikipedia defines Feminism as...

A collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women.

Having seen all this, it doesn't really put my feelings on feminism in one camp or the other. I can't say I define myself as a feminist, given these definitions, even though I'm obviously pro-women's rights. It sounds more like even if I do believe that women and men should be treated equally on the social, political, and cultural, and economic spectrums, I am not truly a feminist if I'm not marching in front of the White House holding a sign that says I believe these things to be important.

I do feel women have come a far way since the time our grandparents or even our parents were our age. Even though back in the day, some women were doing more than just being nurses or secretaries. Amelia Earhart flew a plane across the Atlantic Ocean! Still, women entrepreneurs and CEOs are more a thing of the present. There are women writing and directing films. Entertainment Weekly just put out an article about female producers who have become successful in Hollywood. I recently read another article about women under 30 who are taking the technology field by storm. So yeah, I'm impressed with how far women have come in terms of their career goals. However, until their paychecks show that they should be earning as much as men (if not more), women will constantly be fighting for such rights.

Since I am involved in the book industry, by way of being a blogger, I have noticed that female authors are taking a stand against not having their books reviewed because they are women. Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner (two of my favorite authors) have spoken out about this in numerous articles. (See this one for example.) I've also seen women who still disguise their name in order to have their books noticed more.  J.K. Rowling didn't only go by her initials for the Harry Potter series, but she also wrote books for adults under a man's name. (Oddly enough, there are male writers who disguise their name so they can foray into women's fiction, so I guess it works in reverse too.) There are some great novels written by women and I am always proud to see them as bestsellers, movies, etc. It's not just about romance novels anymore.

I have to admit that when Froggie presented this topic, I felt overwhelmed. There really are a lot of directions I could take it in and I really don't have the time and motivation to write what could turn out to be a term paper by the time I was finished. All I can say is that women in my generation and in the next generations are forging paths for themselves and the women of the future who will need to pick up where we left off in order to show the world we mean business (and not just in the career sense).

These days, I'm just proud of my daughter who refuses to admit that she's pretty or cute, wants to do everything by herself, and holds her own when it comes to standing up to her brothers. If the future is in her hands (and the hands of girls like her), we have nothing to worry about!