To the girl who’d "rather raise a family than a feminist protest sign,"
I have a few questions for you (and concerns).
Let’s just start off with the fact that you are a hypocrite and a condescending one at that. You contend that you are aware of the trials and tribulations that many women before us have experienced in order to solidify our rightful place in society and that you are thankful for their contributions, but in the same breath are quick to patronize these women for taking advantage of their rights and voicing their opinions.
How does that make any sense? It doesn’t.
You’ve also failed to realize that everyone is different. Some women’s passions include pursuing a career and making a name for themselves, while others, including yourself, dream of being a mother and raising a family.
Newsflash: It is 2018. YOU CAN DO EITHER ONE, OR YOU CAN DO BOTH.
If one woman wants to be the CEO of a company and you want to drive your kids to soccer practice, there is absolutely nothing wrong with either one of those scenarios. I know women who are stay-at-home moms, I know women who have a career with no kids, and I know women who have both.
Neither of these women is better than the other. They are all equally amazing and respectable.
It is time women stopped competing over professional and personal aspirations, attempting to prove how one is more validated and significant than the other. You ask other women to “please stop (protesting) because it is insulting to the rest of us girls,” as if either of the situations had ANY correlation.
If you are offended by WOMEN, (which may I remind you that you are one), marching for WOMEN’S rights, and supporting other WOMEN, then your problem isn’t that you’re not a feminist, it’s that you’re ignorant.
You are not ignorant because you want to be a mom. You are not ignorant because you want to bake cookies for your children’s bake sale. And no, you are also not ignorant because you want to care for your husband.
I too, dream of doing these things.
Your ignorance comes to light when you believe that because some women do not share the same dreams as you, that this somehow has any effect on your own life.
Your ignorance comes to light when you complain that these protests and demonstrations make you feel like you HAVE to obtain a position of power.
Your ignorance comes to light when you have such little faith in women as a whole that you think that your choice to be a stay-at-home mother and tend to your family would come as a disappointment to our gender.
Your ignorance comes to light when you fail to realize that modern-day women are capable of assuming both roles and that whether or not they do is a CHOICE, one which you continue to belittle.
And your ignorance comes to light when you try to mask this same ignorance with seemingly supportive and passive aggressive comments such as “you want to do that? you go girl”, as if you have even an ounce of genuine support and appreciation in your body for other women.
“Good for them, standing up for their beliefs and opinions,” you say?
No, GOOD FOR YOU.
Misguided assumptions and incomprehensible lines of reasoning aside, perhaps your largest display of ignorance is showcased when you COMPLETELY fail to understand the very fact that, had it not been for the brave and passionate women before you, the same women who participated in marches such as the one you are so quick to criticize, your ONLY choice, and your ONLY future would be tending to your home and your husband.
At the end of the day, this issue ultimately boils down to respect. When you, and others like yourself, come to acknowledge and respect the myriad of choices available to women to better themselves in today’s world, and come to respect other women in general, then perhaps we will all finally be united.
Until then, you can hide behind your white-picket fence.
