No (Wo)man Is an Island
As my feminist blog starts to take shape, I hope you notice one recurring theme: interdependence. No matter how clever you think you are, I have to break it to you – complete self-sufficiency is a myth that plagues mainstream North America. We need others – women and men.
It’s Change We Can Believe In (But More Importantly Act Upon)
Developing what feminism means to you is definitely important, but it holds minuscule value if you don’t share your experiences and knowledge with the people around you.
Belief begins with one person, but significant change is the result of collective action. Therefore, it is better to act upon (rather than to merely hold) beliefs.
These are just a few ways we can put feminist theories into practice:
Groups: Join a feminist organization to debate and learn more about the hottest contemporary topics.
Education: Read feminist books, subscribe to magazines that discuss female empowerment, and enroll in women’s-study courses.
Charity: Support the women’s movement by donating money to (or volunteering at) places like abused-women shelters and single-mother organizations.
Language: Use more gender-neutral terms to promote equality (e.g. Actors do the same things as actresses. So let’s just call them both actors!). You can also eliminate or reduce using male-normative language like “you guys” or “mankind” when speaking about mixed or all-female groups.
As Charles Darwin once said:
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
Let’s be the change we wish to see in the world!
Mary Shaw
glockomablog@gmail.com
Glockoma 