Should I Call Myself a Feminist III

I’m already not especially proud of the first two posts I wrote with this title, and that is despite them being only a little over 4 months old. The cynicism and defensiveness displayed therein is not becoming of me and does not represent the qualities which I would like to embody. Attempting to shirk responsibility and fearing admissions of guilt are not things I admire, and things I had hoped were not in my nature, however I think those two posts make it quite clear that they very much are.

Rather than attempt to further justify my flaws, acknowledging and attempting to correct them would put me much more in line with the kind of person I want to be. Social inequality is a serious issue, and there are problems arising from it that I both tacitly and actively perpetuate and endorse. Trying to rationalise away my actions, to absolve myself of blame to avoid cognitive dissonance is no longer acceptable.

I’ve arrived at this (after a lot longer than I should have) after finally realising how much it hurts the women around me - women I love and care about. In my desperation not to find fault with myself, I have always been blind to how much pain our society really does to women, but now I have felt it in those close to me, I can’t willfully ignore it.

It might feel uncomfortable, and I might feel undeserving, but those things pale in comparison. I am a feminist.