Dear Fellow Feminists: Where Are You?

Dear Fellow Feminists:

I was asking myself what is it going to take to end, or drastically reduce violence, including sexual violence, against women and children when it occurred to me how many women there are who don't know that they are feminists!

What do you call "...an American constitutional lawyer, conservative activist, author, and founder of the Eagle Forum?" I call her Phyllis Schlafly and say she has made an outstanding career and big bucks out of fighting feminism. The more people that show up to protest, why, they call that "earned media!"

There are a lot of us who are feminists and don't know it. So, if you are earning a living, supporting a family, paying the bills, doing the recording keeping, paying the taxes and also, perhaps, doing the housework and taking care of children, you, my dear, are a feminist and a domestic slave!

 If you believe that women are equal to men under the law, you are a feminist. That's my rule.

If you believe that women have the same legal rights as men, you are a feminist. If you believe women have the right to vote, you are a feminist. If you believe that women have the right to work for a living, go to college, be doctors and lawyers and telephone line wo/men, dig ditches, join the military, you are a feminist.

If you believe that a man with comparable training, doing the same job and working the same hours as you should make more money than you, you are not a feminist. If you believe your daughters don't have the right to go to college, hold jobs, have careers or have equal protection under the law, you are not a feminist. 

Don't say, "Oh, I'm not one of them feminists..." because you make me want to throw up. Oh, that was a little harsh. OK, I stand by it.

So, my fellow country wo/men all of whom are feminists, STOP RUNNING FROM THAT WORD!

Oh, sorry for screaming, because I do love women! I was born a woman. I was born a feminist. Or, perhaps it was my boyfriend who argued vociferously with me that he had seen my grandparents in town when they lived in Detroit. Maybe that turned me...

Anyway...

I was a teen during the 60's. I would love to say I burned my bra publicly, but I was living in a very rural area and no one else would have joined me. 

Oh, neighbors would just have said, "Oh, that Vivian. Last week, it was nudist colonies. This week, it's bra burning." They would have shaken their heads -- with a little pride and a maybe a slight smile. Country people are very tolerant. They are stuck with each other for other for 100's of years.

So, I graduated from college, worked in a small town a year, moved to the city. Joined a consciousness raising group sponsored by NOW. Quit wearing a bra. Quit shaving my legs. Believed in open marriage. I was single and there was not a man around who liked the concept. No idea why.

So, is it time for a revolution or what!?!

Women, I love you! Wake up!

Your friend,

Vivian