Feminism

Feminism is a tricky subject.  To some people, feminism means the empowering of women; to others, it's the belittling of men.  Perhaps it's both.  It's become a bit of word that makes people cringe and shake their heads, and with some feminists' actions, they can't exactly be blamed for that.  Most of these people seem to be men, and while some of them seem to be anti-feminist for the reason that they enjoy patronizing women (from my perception, anyway), some have been told by feminists that their feelings aren't valid, that they're weaker, or that they don't matter.  And in that case, well, power to them for choosing not to be part of a movement that has struck them down.
I do, however, consider myself a feminist.  When I share that with other people, some of them are pretty cool with that, and others make their disapproval known.  If I were to tell a random stranger that I'm a feminist, their perception of me may very well be based on interactions with feminists or observations of them, so I could either be seen as intelligent or as a misandrist.  Which is fine by me.  Even if I explained my views to them and what I specifically believe, there's still a great possibility that they won't like me, either because I'm still identifying as a feminist and they don't or because they don't agree with me.  But hey!  You can't please every single person here on this earth.  There are over 7 billion of them.  It's okay to disagree.  Unless you think terrorism is cool and stuff.
So I, as a feminist, am set apart a little bit.  I'm not a special snowflake, and I'm not better than anyone else.  But I like to mold my idea of feminism to my own set of beliefs, which are:

-Pro-life, yo.  I will love and care for any woman I come across who is considering an abortion, having one, or has had one.  I won't go into any great detail as to why I'm pro-life, as I already did a post on that a few years ago, but I am.
-Men are cool.  I don't really come across people who think men suck in real life, but you get to hear about it a lot on the most tolerant, caring place you can find - the Internet, of course.  This form of elitism isn't exactly all that common as far as I know, but it's still out there, and it always will be.  Regardless, men are great.  Not all of them are, but my XY friends and family members (no significant other here) are fantastic and deserve respect.
-Other women need it more than I do.  I haven't truly been discriminated against.  I have had men whistle at me and say rather lecherous things to me before, but I think a good chunk of that is just because they were gross, not because they were men.  Women can be gross too.  That's the extent of the issues I've had with men, though.  There needs to be more of a demand for equality when girls are shot for trying to have an education or kidnapped and sold to be defiled.
-Women are all different.  I think this is also less common and being feminine is very, very embraced, but I still see men and women alike try to tell other women that you can't be a feminist if you're feminine.  I think this also is displayed somewhat in books, movies, and video games - people are caught up in the lie that a great woman has to be able to kick butt.  There was a time when Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency made the argument that Zelda of the Legend of Zelda games was too much a damsel in distress and was therefore sexist, even though Zelda has played a vital role in the games (a topic I've also posted on in the past).  It wouldn't exactly be the Legend of Zelda if it weren't for her.  Zelda has been portrayed differently in the games, but one of my favorite versions of her is the Zelda from Skyward Sword.  Zelda has a very gentle and kind spirit, and yet reprimands Link for sleeping in and not practicing for the Loftwing competition thingy (someone remind me what that's called?).  You do have to rescue her, but you also discover who she truly is and just how crucial she is to the plot.  She's not unimportant because she gets kidnapped - in fact, she's just the opposite.  And if you like seeing a woman who's good at fighting, take a look at her guardian, Impa.  They're both very different, but they're still both important.  Point is, women aren't all the same, and if they were, life would be incredibly dull.
-We need to treat all women with kindness.  There was a lot of hate and criticism aimed towards Kaley Cuoco and Meghan Trainor, two famous women who said that they do not identify as feminists.  I had to feel sorry for them; this was, after all, a personal decision.  Isn't that what feminism should be, anyway?  Celebrating women for who they are, even with decisions we might not necessarily agree with?  I'm sure that when they received such negative comments towards them, it definitely would have kept them further away from considering feminism!  I might not agree with you on something, but you'll have a friend in me if you're kind and you don't listen to Yoko Ono.  (Kidding on the last part.  Mostly.)
-A lot of "women's issues" are men's issues, too.  How is it that Chris Brown abusing Rihanna was such a huge thing, and yet Emma Roberts abusing her boyfriend wasn't as big of a deal?  Why aren't men taken seriously when they try to come out about being abused or raped?  What makes it okay for women to catcall men, even in joking?  Maybe some of these are less common, but that doesn't mean they're any less important.

So, yeah.  Love me or hate me if you want.  It's all whatever.  If we're not friends, you get to miss out on a lot of benefits, such as me complaining about random stuff.  I'm pretty fantastic, you see.  In all seriousness, though, feminism is different for everyone, and I'm not any better than anyone who is pro-choice or whatever.  I'm just another chick with those opinion things who likes to think and make decisions for herself.

Thoughts on Being "Petite"

I'm a skinny girl.  I'm not saying that to be prideful, but just to state a fact.  Throughout the day, my weight fluctuates often, but on average, I'm about 111 pounds.  I don't think that's good or bad.  It's a number, just like my age, my birthdate, my social security number, or my phone numbers.  It's just another part of me, but it isn't actually me.
Several times a week this is made quite clear to me.  "You're so skinny!"  "How are you so thin?!"  They're not insults.  Just slightly annoying observations that (usually) don't have any harm intended.  But there are some things that I (and likely, other skinny girls) wish I could tell you that I usually don't because you're usually a stranger or you're a good friend and I don't want there to be tension between us.

1. I have health problems too.  They're just not weight-related.  In early January last year, I began to see a chiropractor, where I was told that I have a minor form of scoliosis.  It wasn't painful like more severe degrees of scoliosis are, but it actually helped to treat my mental health.  I have depression and anxiety, for which I have tried several different methods.  Thanks to chiropractic care and counseling, they're better, but they will never disappear completely, and that's just something I get to live with.  I don't have as many health problems as other people do, but I don't feel super duper all the time either.
2. I'm no less a woman because of my weight.  I've never really understood this one.  You've probably heard it before - "Men like meat; bones are for the dogs," or "Real women have curves."  Here's the thing - I'm a woman because I was born that way.  I could, you know, explain how anatomy works, but I think you may have a good grasp on that already.  I could also go on about how having kids won't make me (or anyone else) a woman, enjoying trips to the shooting range doesn't make me a woman (though I do enjoy them), or anything else on what womanhood is defined as besides basic anatomy, but I think I'll save that for another day.
3. I don't like every single aspect of myself.  Sadly, I don't think really anyone does.  But there have been several times where if someone told me they wished they looked like me, I'd have to hold back a snort and say, "Please, you do not want to look like me.  Really."  And when those people have said that to me, there has always been something of theirs that I would have loved to have.  Maybe they had really beautiful faces.  Or a wonderful singing voice.  Intelligence.  Charisma.  Wit.  Patience.  Something I lack.  While this is no way an excuse, contentment with oneself is a hard thing to find.

So there you have it.  Being skinny doesn't mean being happy.  So go drink a frap or something.  Treat yo self.