Every feminist has a defining moment that moved them from a concerned bystander to an active participant in the political world. Not that being a feminist is something that just snaps into place one day- maybe for some, but for most, I think we’ve had a life-long desire to ensure justice and fairness and all things created equal. From the people I’ve talk to, most of them remember that moment that really shook them, spoke to them, ignited their fire which pushed them into action, into using their voice, into standing up and being LOUD, no longer on the sidelines disapproving of the rules or play of the game, but coming forward and dissenting.
I remember that moment.
The very first time had to be when I was five and I watched Jurassic Park with my family when it came out. Laura Dern’s Dr. Ellie Sattler was a Paleobotanist and all-around bad a feminist, who helps to save the world. She was brilliant, brave, courageous, and did whatever had to be done. She was my first feminist icon.
Actually, now that I think about it, we may go through many of these moments, when our fire is dwindling and then something happens that acts like gasoline to the flame.
As a competitive soccer player, and a 90’s kid, I remember watching Mia Hamm square off against Michael Jordan in a Gatorade commercial, with the song “Anything you can do I can do better” playing in the background. Mia Hamm was my idol, and I watched as she always competed fearlessly and relentlessly. One time she said “my coach told me that I run like a girl, and I told him that if he ran a little faster, he could too.” She was my hero.
I remember watching Mulan for the first time, and a thousand more times after that, and feeling that electrical current buzzing underneath my skin. I remember reading and watching Hermione Granger’s intelligence save the day over-and-over-again and Katniss Everdeen’s courage to become the Mockingjay and feeling that burn inside my chest.
But the moment that changed everything, that took me from just feeling the fire ignite inside me to actively working to burn the patriarchy down, was in college. For one of my electives, I took Introduction to Women’s Movements; I had always believed in feminism, but had not really existed in the movement yet, and was drawn to it in a way I cannot even put into words. That moment was a defining one for the rest of my life. Specifically, I remember that the first two readings we had were the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions from the first Women’s Rights Convention held at Seneca Falls in 1848 and Sojourner Truth’s 1851 “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, and well, the rest is history.
I felt that fire again when Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced during her speech against Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination as U.S. attorney general in 2017, while reading aloud a letter written by Coretta Scott King urging the Senate to reject Jeff Sessions’ nomination as a federal judge in 1986. Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell unknowingly gave rise to a new feminist battle cry when he spoke out regarding the “incident”, stating “Senator Warren was giving a lengthy speech…She had appeared to violate the rule [regarding not defaming other Senators on the Senate Floor]. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” Nevertheless, she persisted.
And again when I watched Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec, and read Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s My Own Words, and watched Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman on the big screen. Or watched Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Talaban, accept the Nobel Peace Prize as the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. And again watching Emma Watson give her "He For She" speech to the UN. I felt that fire the strongest when I held my infant nieces in my arms and swore I'd do everything in my power to build them a better world, where they wouldn't have to fear for their life walking to their car alone at night, or be brainwashed to hate their own bodies, or worry about being paid the same amount of money as their male peers, or be safe at school and in their communities. A world where heavily prevalent violence against women is just a concept they have to imagine when reading their textbooks but never have to live firsthand.
And again [following the election of President Trump] on January 21, 2017 when the nationwide protest, known as the Women’s March, made history as the largest single-day protest in U.S. history, with numbers estimated around 3,300,000-4,600,000 participants.
When I think about everything going on in the world, in our own country, in our own states and communities, all I can think about is that it’s too much for any one person to change alone. No one can do it by themselves; if real change is to occur, it has to come from all of us, working together, fighting tooth-and-nail, relentlessly and tenaciously, and having the courage to stand up for what we believe in, to stand up for what’s right, to be good examples of our morals and walk-the-walk. We need to have real conversations, real dialogue, with people who think differently than we do. We need to listen, to each other, to victims, to survivors, to people on opposite political sides… and we need to listen with an open mind and an open heart, with empathy and genuine desire to understand instead of demonize or degrade.
As a competitive soccer player, and a 90’s kid, I remember watching Mia Hamm square off against Michael Jordan in a Gatorade commercial, with the song “Anything you can do I can do better” playing in the background. Mia Hamm was my idol, and I watched as she always competed fearlessly and relentlessly. One time she said “my coach told me that I run like a girl, and I told him that if he ran a little faster, he could too.” She was my hero.
I remember watching Mulan for the first time, and a thousand more times after that, and feeling that electrical current buzzing underneath my skin. I remember reading and watching Hermione Granger’s intelligence save the day over-and-over-again and Katniss Everdeen’s courage to become the Mockingjay and feeling that burn inside my chest.
But the moment that changed everything, that took me from just feeling the fire ignite inside me to actively working to burn the patriarchy down, was in college. For one of my electives, I took Introduction to Women’s Movements; I had always believed in feminism, but had not really existed in the movement yet, and was drawn to it in a way I cannot even put into words. That moment was a defining one for the rest of my life. Specifically, I remember that the first two readings we had were the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions from the first Women’s Rights Convention held at Seneca Falls in 1848 and Sojourner Truth’s 1851 “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, and well, the rest is history.
I felt that fire again when Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced during her speech against Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination as U.S. attorney general in 2017, while reading aloud a letter written by Coretta Scott King urging the Senate to reject Jeff Sessions’ nomination as a federal judge in 1986. Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell unknowingly gave rise to a new feminist battle cry when he spoke out regarding the “incident”, stating “Senator Warren was giving a lengthy speech…She had appeared to violate the rule [regarding not defaming other Senators on the Senate Floor]. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” Nevertheless, she persisted.
And again when I watched Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec, and read Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s My Own Words, and watched Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman on the big screen. Or watched Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Talaban, accept the Nobel Peace Prize as the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. And again watching Emma Watson give her "He For She" speech to the UN. I felt that fire the strongest when I held my infant nieces in my arms and swore I'd do everything in my power to build them a better world, where they wouldn't have to fear for their life walking to their car alone at night, or be brainwashed to hate their own bodies, or worry about being paid the same amount of money as their male peers, or be safe at school and in their communities. A world where heavily prevalent violence against women is just a concept they have to imagine when reading their textbooks but never have to live firsthand.
And again [following the election of President Trump] on January 21, 2017 when the nationwide protest, known as the Women’s March, made history as the largest single-day protest in U.S. history, with numbers estimated around 3,300,000-4,600,000 participants.
When I think about everything going on in the world, in our own country, in our own states and communities, all I can think about is that it’s too much for any one person to change alone. No one can do it by themselves; if real change is to occur, it has to come from all of us, working together, fighting tooth-and-nail, relentlessly and tenaciously, and having the courage to stand up for what we believe in, to stand up for what’s right, to be good examples of our morals and walk-the-walk. We need to have real conversations, real dialogue, with people who think differently than we do. We need to listen, to each other, to victims, to survivors, to people on opposite political sides… and we need to listen with an open mind and an open heart, with empathy and genuine desire to understand instead of demonize or degrade.
All of us, working together toward a better and brighter future.
We need to persist and dissent.
We need to persist and dissent.
