Lunapads

Feminism, to be honest, is a loaded word. It has so many connotations – and not all of them positive. Some would say that feminists are angry militant women who want to be treated, act, and even look like men; with the same one set of values. That is a stereotype, and nothing could be farther from the truth.

My style of feminism is very different from the stereotype. I celebrate being a woman and being feminine. I firmly believe myself to be worthy of just as much respect and value as any other human being.

As a woman, I respect my body, its processes, its unique abilities, and its limitations. I would not allow anyone – including myself to use my body for selfish pleasure. I respect my body’s natural rhythms and choose to better understand them and celebrate them rather than suppress them as if a disease. My monthly period is a sign that my ovaries are active. Other signs that we (my husband and I) chart on my cyclical Sympto-Thermal chart indicate that I ovulate, and have periods of fertility and infertility in my cycle. I have the awesome privilege as a fertile woman to be able to carry new life within me, and then nourish that child with milk uniquely tailored to his or her needs. I believe that my role as mother is one to be respected by our society – whether I choose to stay at home and raise and maybe even educate our children myself, or if I choose to leave our children in the care of someone we trust while I go to work.

As a spouse, I deserve and expect the unconditional love, respect, fidelity, and support of my husband. I expect him to cherish and honour me above all else. Of myself, I expect no less than to offer the very same to my husband. In times when we fail, we are responsible to seek forgiveness one from the other.

I believe that a woman should be treated with respect in the workplace. She should be paid just as much, and have the same benefits as a man doing the same job. She should also be given the same amount of esteem as a male colleague. She should not be asked or expected to perform tasks that a man performing the same job would not be asked or expected to do.

Furthermore, I believe that every person should be treated with respect, and that every person should also behave respectfully. Insults, profanity, and other forms of abuse have no place in a society where members treat one another with respect.

We all have rights, privileges, and sensibilities; and these come with responsibilities.

Let us each one respond to the other with the attitude of respect. We are all valuable persons. <>

Elaine H., Vancouver

This entry was posted on Monday, March 19th, 2007 at 2:53 pm by Guest and is filed under Feminism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.