How becoming a feminist made me a better person.

Feminism is one of those words isn’t it? When you bring it up in conversation if either makes people do a collective sigh, or it piques people’s interests. I have found in recent years that people are more understanding, or you get people that go “yeah me too” which is always my favourite.

I didn’t really identify as a feminist until I was around 18, I was enjoying my life to the best of my ability and some people didn’t agree with that. After 1 too many unsavoury comments about my morals, something in me snapped and I ended up writing a blog post (this was way back in 2013 on a blog long forgotten) about how women and men should be calling anyone names such as a ‘slut’ and should instead be building each other up and supporting each other.

This was the start of something wonderful for me, because although something snapped inside me, something also clicked.

I think a lot of people that aren’t educated on feminism just assume that you hate men. Now I can’t comment on all feminists, as it has a number of different branches, but I certainly don’t hate men. For me, feminism is about making sure that we are all equal.

As a feminist I will always stick up for the minority in any situation, it has helped me to identify that as a white female I am far more privileged than some and it’s for that reason that I try to use whatever voice I have to speak out for those who no one will listen to.

I’ve also become much more of a feminist since having my little boy, and some of you may think “well how does that work? He’s a boy”. But it’s for that exact reason that my feminism has become more passionate. I want my son to grow up knowing that it’s okay to play with dolls, and that he can dress up as a princess if he wants to. I want him to know that there is nothing wrong with a man crying or saying that he needs help, but I also want him to grow up knowing that he is extremely lucky and privileged and that not everyone else is as lucky as he is. I want him to grow up to help those who aren’t as lucky as him.

Becoming a feminist was one of the best life decisions I ever made, and hopefully anyone reading this will realise they are a feminist too.