Recently Someone Called Me A Hairy Arm Pitted Dyke - They Meant Feminist!

Recently someone called me a hairy arm pitted dyke. I thought that was just charming especially as the word that they were looking for was feminist. I may however have to admit to the hairy armpits, as I have not yet come out of winter mode, and dyke? well it was just that one time at band camp, but that is not the point here. I am a single woman, I shout about equality and I support a number of women’s movements. I advocate education in girls across the world and hope that I will see changes in my lifetime, just as the feminists that went before me did. That does not make me a dyke and it more importantly it does not make me a stereotype.

Recently someone called me a hairy arm pitted dyke. I thought that was just charming especially as the word that they were looking for was feminist. I may however have to admit to the hairy armpits, as I have not yet come out of winter mode, and dyke? well it was just that one time at band camp, but that is not the point here. I am a single woman, I shout about equality and I support a number of women's movements. I advocate education in girls across the world and hope that I will see changes in my lifetime, just as the feminists that went before me did. That does not make me a dyke and it more importantly it does not make me a stereotype.

We are all feminists to some extent. There is no one defining feminist movement, there are millions of movements going on every day, from the mother telling her daughter that it is ok to raise her hand in class to the woman helping to educate girls in Afghanistan. Men are feminists too, men who support their wives and daughters to achieve great things and those who rescue young girls from forced marriages.

Feminism is not about women being the superior gender it is about equality for both sexes. It is about choice. I can choose to go to work, I can choose to be a stay home mum, I can choose not to have children at all, I can choose who I marry and I can choose what gender my spouse will be. (current economics make that a tad subjective but the underlaying message remains).

The women who went before me and the men who supported their ideas made it possible for me to vote, to come out of the typing pool and to be a single mother. Obviously on a global scale feminism is so much more, but in my little bubble, these are the things that affect me the most and allow me to exercise my voice.

And talking of my voice, I am rather fond of it. I am lucky that I live in a country that on the whole doesn't mind women having a voice. I am also extremely lucky that my business partner lets me run an online magazine on which I can use my voice. Although to be fair, I am very happy to use my voice on any available platform, including the supermarket checkout queue.

That to me is Feminism – it is being able to live my life as I want to, but in doing that I have a responsibility to speak for those who are not so lucky. Women without a voice are not necessarily those being traded like property in the 3rd world, they are also living on the same street as you. Women who are being subjected to violence every day, too afraid to speak and even if they did speak out, where would they go? Who would support them emotionally and financially? Women suffering illness alone and frightened. The single mother who just lost her job and is struggling to feed her children because the benefits system is so slow.

So to the bald headed Bupkes who complimented me so charmingly – Thank you for reminding me that the feminist movement needs to keep shouting or maybe speak slower for those of you who are not quite equal in the brain department!