I've destroyed whole societies, hate men, and became a lesbian witch, too.
Oh, wait, I saw that in a movie.
Or did I read it in a book?
Must have been a speech from some pulpit when I was visiting a friend's church.
Or maybe it fell from the lips of a politician like spittle.
All because I am and have always been a feminist.
It's hard to not be one when you have lady parts. Even the women who have decided to toe the male party line sometimes waver.
The thing is, being a feminist isn't about hatred. At its roots, being a feminist is about love. It's about loving others and oneself enough to admit we all deserve humane and ethical treatment. It's about a love so deep we're willing to speak up for those who aren't being treated humanely, ethically, and respectfully.
We talk, and take action where and when we can.
Feminism is a lot of things, but at its core, it's about equalizing a man-made disparity.
Women share the same attributes as men, with the primary difference being reproductive capability. At times, it's important to treat men and women differently when it comes to reproduction simply because it's a biological necessity to do so. Biology, however, is not an indicator of intelligence, capability, skills, or ambition. These cross biological gender boundaries and therefore those boundaries are artificially in place.
I am feminine in the fact that I have all the identifiers of XX chromosomes: uterus, ovaries, vagina, labia, breasts. I conceived and birthed children, and breastfed them. I had a cancer in my lady parts. That's the end of my femininity.
Everything else I do can be and has been done by people of either gender.
Cooking? While professional kitchens are still dominated by men, cooking is not inherently an activity that can be done by only men. That's been proven many times over.
Journalism? Not a field that can only be done by one gender over the other.
Childcare? Both genders can be equally nurturing.
Nursing? Again, both genders are perfectly capable of doing the necessary tasks.
I can't think of a single task other than reproductive ones where gender matters.
That's why it's always, always a shock to hear that because I feel women are as capable as men I must be some sort of horrible baby-eating slut. Or worse. Because I believe women should earn the same pay for the same jobs as men and men should expect to take the same time off from work for child care duties (after all, their responsibilities for the child didn't end with their ejaculate scoring a touchdown on the egg) - I am not a man-hater.
Sure, I'm divorced, but that's not because I hated my ex. I'm annoyed with him, exasperated at him, and we disagree widely on many topics, but I trust him. I just couldn't live with him. We'd grown too different during our marriage, and getting divorced saved our friendship. His politics may destroy that if he continues down Tea Partydom, but he's just one man in the whole species.
I'd like to think I had a hand in helping society in the small ways I can. I donate to charity when I have the funds. I teach survival skills (for free, mostly, since no one wants to pay for them) and I volunteer to help those less fortunate than myself - even if they do earn more money than I do. Just because I know how to handle my income and live well on my income without getting debt-ridden doesn't mean everyone has developed those skills yet. I clean trash out of parks and off the roadsides because I can and it annoys me to see that filth. I don't "adopt" them and get my name up on a sign because I feel that signage is a waste of my tax dollars when I can just grab a trash bag (or ten) and a trash stabber and go clean up. I vote for those regulations and bills that will improve my society - usually bills relating to infrastructure like roads and bridges, utilities, teachers, firefighters, and other essential societal needs. I pay taxes and work hard and skillfully at my job. I flip domestic animals I find that need good homes (at my expense).
Earning a fair wage (ie the same wage as my co-workers in the same position) is not a feminist issue so much as it is a societal issue. Turning a blind eye to it is not the solution and when half the society does that, they need to be reminded, if necessary, in neon colors, flashing lights, and glitter, persistently and with determination until they change.
As for that lesbian witch thing - pure fantasy, just like baby eating.
My children are alive and doing well, not one bite mark from me on them.