Finding the value of feminism in my life
by: Taylor Hensel
Feminism has always seemed like a distant phenomenon to me. Whenever the word feminist was ever brought up I would immediately imagine hippie women with excessively long, stringy, hair waving picket signs violently in the air outside of a government establishment, all while demanding justice and respect. Up until this year, feminism has never seemed relevant to me. In fact, to my understanding it had a negative connotation. I associated feminism with ideas like being anti-men, being opposed to glamour or fashion, and being outdated. To put it bluntly, the word feminist made me uncomfortable.
When I look back on my preconceived notions regarding feminism, I am now able to recognize where my assumptions came from. Unfortunately my ideas of feminism stemmed from a source that most stereotypes generate from: the media. From magazine articles all the way to movies, my thoughts about feminism where exactly what was being fed to me without me even knowing it, and the visual image of the long-haired hippie woman came directly from what I had seen my entire life on the big screen.
When I first realized that my understanding of feminism was not my own I became enraged. Like most people, I want my thoughts and opinions about life and all that it entails to be of my choosing, not what was being spoon fed to me. Ultimately, it was this realization that inspired me to dig deeper into how feminism applied to me.
Upon entering my first Women’s Studies course here at MSU Denver I was immediately faced with the idea of feminism and how it pertained to me. My first day of Introduction to Women’s Studies was certainly not as painful as I had assumed though, and I credit my pleasant experience to my ability to have an open mind. However, keeping my judgments and negativity at bay during this class was much easier said than done in the first few weeks, especially in times where the topic of discussion became very heavy and in my opinion hard to face.
The class was certainly uncomfortable for me up until my professor taught me a lesson that ultimately freed me from the confusion and angst I was feeling regarding feminism. I learned, that it us up to me to define feminism. Feminism is not a ‘one-size fits all’ kind of thing; it is quite personal and individualized. I also learned that feminism it is not a set of rules, requirements or standards that all who identify as a feminist must adhere to. Although I still did not know much about the ins and outs of feminism, the first conclusion I made was that I found value in positive actions of feminism and how by putting feminist values into practice change and awareness was generated.
After I learned that I did not have to conform and adjust my values in order to identify as a feminist, I was able to bring a free flowing energy to my Women’s Studies class that eventually allowed me to receive the information we were learning exactly how I wanted to, and that was extremely empowering.
I am currently working on fully defining what feminism means to me and I am taking my time. Now that the pressure of making the choice of “feminist or not” is gone, I feel like my journey is that much sweeter and I am becoming more mindful each day as to what it really means to be a woman. Now feminism does not seem like an overbearing noun, but rather a gentle yet powerful verb flowing through me simply by being myself. It is my hope that through my honesty about my path to discovering the value of feminism in my life, that who may be struggling with this notion can find power in their journey a well.
