Feminism over dinner

I was having dinner with female friends last week when one of them said, ‘ugh I hate feminists.’ I was shocked! I had never heard such a thing leave another woman’s mouth before.  I had no idea how to respond. The conversation quickly went away from the comment and into a new topic but it left me wondering, what is it about the word feminist that turns so many people off?

Why does one single word have so much confusion and ignorance surrounding it?

The word feminism according to Webster’s dictionary means the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes, or organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. So a feminist is someone who advocates and rallies for the before mentioned rights for women.

Is it not 2013? Why is it still taboo to be considered a feminist? Why are women still fighting for their basic human rights?

I think I found an answer to that question in a conversation I had with Lindsay Wilke the other day.

We were discussing why revolutions and rights movements happened when they did and why there were so effective when they happened.

Th conversation made me realize that people have to reach their breaking point for any sort of change to happen.

However, I believe that people also need a strong leader to push forward and guide people. I think that a strong leader can happen at any time during a call for change, but that it takes just the right leader at a certain time to get the change to happen.

I have not seen a leader able to gather and focus all the people who are calling for change everywhere in the world.

I see many individuals with causes and great ideas. I see many people at their breaking point. What I don’t see is the realization that leaders need followers and followers need leaders to get anything done.

A leader for women’s rights hasn’t stepped forward yet and the followers have not yet converged to create a never stopping wave, but I think enough people have hit the breaking point that soon feminism and women’s rights will not considered the equivalent to Pandora’s box being opened.

Instead the movement and education on them will be seen as long overdue