Join in the Feminist Blog Carnival

On Friday, August 27th, the first annual “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” Blog Carnival will take place. Inspired by the idea that young feminists are underrepresented—or misrepresented—particularly by the media and older feminists, it’s a day for all young feminists to speak out on their blogs and write about what it means to be a young (or old!) feminist today.

Participating is easy. Just click here to post a link to your blog and grab the icon to post on your blog when you participate.

This is the perfect opportunity for those of us who identify as feminists but usually don’t call ourselves such—or avoid the topic in front of certain people, in my case—to explore why we do this and the implication that the philosophy has in our lives. What does being a feminist mean to you? How do you live as a feminist? Are you raising feminists as a parent?

I actually own a t-shirt that reads, “This is what a feminist looks like.” I wore it to a flea market once and the man I buy gemstones from remarked, “Oh, so that’s what feminists look like! I always wondered.” He grinned at me, and I knew he wasn’t being snide—just friendly. I did encounter some pretty haughty looks, though, and since I’m not the kind of person who enjoys a lot of attention, I have rarely worn the shirt after my initial purchase.

That said, I think I’ve always been able to comfortably identify as a feminist—a privileged circumstance, for sure, due to the country of my birth, parentage, and the work of so many who passed before me. I luckily was born to a feminist mother—whose own mother was quite controlled by her husband in many ways. My mother used to tell me stories about how she helped my grandmother go behind my grandfather’s back to do simple things—like paint a room when he’d forbid it, or use a car that he told them they couldn’t use—and I would always giggle with glee. Of course, the fact that they had to do this—and that this man sired my awesome mom, which of course led to my own birth—still remained a topic that made my eyes burn, even long after both of my grandparents had died.

Young feminists may not know as much about feminist history and what it took to get where we are firsthand as older feminists, but I think those of us who do identify with the word understand it more than we’re given credit for.

What feminist topics concern you the most? What makes you a feminist? Take part in tomorrow’s blog carnival and share your thoughts.