The F-Word: Feminism

This was posted at a high school after new dress code was enforced.
YOU GO GLEN COCO.

Anyone noticed the new spring of Feminism sweeping young women (and even some very brave and cool young men) across the nation? Thanks to tumblr and other social media sites, I think "feminism" and efforts against the rape culture have become "cool" again.

One problem. I'm a Conservative Republican.

A couple months ago, one of my friends in my English class said,

"Julia, I could totally imagine you being a feminist."

Automatically, I cringed. Physically cringed at the very word being uttered to describe ME. Born and raised Republican, I was taught that feminists = bad. When my friend said that, pictures of lesbians eating tofu and braiding their armpit hair flashed in my head. Naturally, I responded that I was sort-of-ish a feminist-ish. I immediately wanted to disassociate myself from that term.

But then, I kind of thought about it. I read articles regarding other public schools being super sexist regarding their dress code because they don't want it to be "distracting" to the boys in an educational environment. (I mean, you're not going to allow me to wear MY BELOVED LULULEMON PANTS?? How about NO.) I read things going on in the country, like girls getting raped while they were passed out drunk, and the boy's defense was that, "She didn't say no." Those same girls who got raped then were humiliated via the internet, and then some resorted to suicide.

It's NOT ok for schools to restrict girls from wearing shorts on a hot day just because it shows our legs, yoga pants just because it makes our butts look pretty great, or even v-necks just because it shows more of our chest area then crew necks do. It's NOT ok for girls to cater OUR clothing choices and OUR behavior to teenage boys who can't control themselves.

Here's a really nice alternative: Teach teen boys how to be men. Teach them how to respect a woman's body like it should be respected. Teach them to be mature. This is the future of the nation we are talking about, let's get serious about this issue.

Now, I'm not totally off the deep-end. I'm no Sandra Fluke. I don't think contraceptives are a government responsibility. But I do think that women should be equal to men in every legal and social regard. No double standards should be tolerated in this day in age.

I'm a girl who doesn't wear skirts or dresses often. I think that pants are extremely comfortable, and dresses are lovely for special occasions. I love primping pre-night out, but often times I'll throw my hair up in a pony tail and rush to my 7:00 AM class. Does that make me any less feminine? Any less desirable? No. That just makes me a modern woman.

So, I'm feminist-ish, and I guess I'm proud of it.