Rant About Feminism
JULIA HULSE
What is feminism? The concept that women deserve equal pay, equal respect and equal choices as men. The belief that women can do what they want as a career and still be respected as people. I've had other jobs. I've worked in social services, I've worked in the TV industry, I've worked in the criminal justice venue. I've worked retail, I've worked customer service and I've been an office assistant. I've worked in the beauty industry, I've worked with animals and I've worked as a maid. All of these noble professions for a woman. I got out there, went to school, got a degree and actually used it for a short while. I am woman, hear me roar. So why, when I choose to stay home with my two children, do some people choose to criticize me and tell me I'm setting the feminist movement back thirty years? Why is raising my children any less feminist, or feminine, than working in any other job?
The goddess gave birth to the god. I gave birth to my kids. I choose to raise them. I believe if more parents would stay home and raise their children instead of expecting daycare centers to do it for them, we wouldn't have so many problem children, but that's a whole nother article.
There is absolutely nothing more feminine than conceiving a child in love, growing that child for ten long moons, loving that child, giving life to that child, and raising that child. It embodies all that is sacred to many women. Nurturing, mothering, caring for a child. Giving birth is the most powerfully feminine thing I've ever done. Growing two children in my womb, with the help of my husband and lover, was more profoundly feminine than any other endeavor in my lifetime. I gave life. I nursed two wonderful daughters at my breast. My body fed them and nurtured them. If that's not feminist, I'm not really sure what is.
I'm all for equal rights and I'll fight for equal pay for my sisters in the workplace. If I end up back in the full time workplace, I'll fight for my equal pay, also. I'll also fight for my right to stay home with my children without being told I'm not a feminist. I'll fight for my kids' right to have a loving home, a place to return after a long day in play land. I'll not have them raised in a daycare center with 25 kids per adult. I'll not have them sent to school where they get a lackluster and poor education. I'll keep them at home, raise them the way we want. We will teach them, along with our network of other pagan homeschoolers. They will play, they will learn, they will be children, then they'll return home to a mom who loves them enough to raise them.
I'm not implying that moms who put their kids in daycare don't love them. I completely understand the financial struggle of today's parents. I'm lucky and I'm blessed and I realize that every day. I'm simply commenting and responding to those who have the gall to say I'm not a feminist because I'm staying home with two kids. I love my job, do you?
