Why I Choose Feminism

From a young age I learned the importance in not only standing up for myself, but in standing up for others. I was brought into the world by a single teenaged mom who found herself in one abusive relationship after another. I’ve seen what happens when someone has so much fear surrounding them that it silences them and I always told myself “that will never be me”

For myself, my mom, my sisters, my friends, the girl sitting at the bar alone crying, the girl on the street being harassed, I choose to have a voice. I’ve learned that you can’t wait for someone else to take action or to stand up for what’s right, because people often disappoint you.

I’ve seen a lot of women sharing why “they don’t need feminism” and one thing I have to say to these women is this; Just because you don’t need it, doesn’t mean that someone else doesn’t. Just because you have a voice that you choose not to use, doesn’t mean that someone who doesn’t have a voice doesn’t need one.

There are hundreds of thousands of millions of women who don’t have the rights we do. There are women who are mutilated, raped, tortured, and killed every single day and there’s nothing they can do about it. But if you think that is a reason to sit and be quiet and stop, then you are wrong. Do you think these women want life to be that way for them? Or do you think that they wish they could put a stop to it, that someone would help them? I choose the latter.

I use my voice daily, if not for myself for someone else who needs it. FEMINISM IS NOT A SELFISH AGENDA. If you need it, it’s there. If you choose to ignore it, it’s still there. The changes that are being protested now will not affect me in a devastating way if they go through, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t affect other women to that extent.

I’m tired of hearing women even act like feminism is something to be against. If you choose not to use your voice, that’s fine. But if you have a problem with other women using their voice just because you personally do not need it, that’s just selfish. I think we as women would get a lot further together, supporting each other, and standing up for all of our rights whether it is loudly or silently.