What is Feminism?
Remember when the worst thing to call a liberal was a “card-carrying” member of the American Civil Liberties Union? There’s no feminist card, but if there were, it would be in my elaborate, many-zippered red purse.
People will tell you there’s a credibility gap between that purse and feminism, into which contradiction can slip like bacteria. I can’t see bacteria, but I know what makes me sick. New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer says she doesn’t consider herself a feminist.
She doesn’t have to:
I did that for her.
Without me—or my generation—there wouldn’t be a CEO named Marissa who insists she’s not a feminist.
Moreover, I see no contradiction between being a mother (Marissa Mayer of one, me of nine) and being a feminist. I see none because there is none. There’s no contradiction between being a staunch feminist and any of the traditional girly things—like that snazzy red purse or falling hopelessly in love.
Because I am a feminist, it’s my right to want them all.
Read the rest at Virginia Quarterly Review.
Writing is like breaking rocks in the hot sun, for the angels.”
About Jacquelyn
Jacquelyn Mitchard was born in Chicago, the daughter of plumber and a mother who brought her putty from her part-time job at the hardware store. Of Canadian, Czech, and American Indian descent (a member of the Lac du Flambeau Cree Chippewa tribe) she is...
Connections
Causes Jacquelyn Mitchard Supports
National MS Society, Women Against MS, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, One Writer's Place