I Am a Feminist Because...

Here's a definition of feminism from Wikipedia:

Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women.

How can any sane person not agree with that?

But in case you need further convincing:

I am a feminist because my mother Eve chose knowledge and generation, and has been vilified by every generation ever since.

I am a feminist because Sarah, Rebekah, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Hannah, Esther, all the Marys and Martha the under-appreciated, the Samaritan woman whose name is lost to history, Lydia, Lois and Eunice, Priscilla, Sariah, Abish, Lucy, Emma, Eliza, and many others left me an unspeakable (and largely unwritten) legacy of spiritual power, and I shall not squander it.

I am a feminist because my mother, my grandmothers, my great-great-great grandmothers, are and were women of faith and learning and strength who inspire me every day.

I am a feminist because I want a better world for my nieces and nephews, and for my unborn daughters and sons.

And...

I am a feminist because I was eleven and innocent and I got away yet it still haunts me, because what if he hurt another girl worse than he hurt me because I never said anything, not for all these years, and maybe it's too late for her, but not for you, whoever you are reading this now.

I am a feminist because I have a voice.

I am a feminist because "modest is hottest" is a perverse oxymoron that fuels rape culture, reduces men to puppets, and re-converts the virtue of women into a sexual commodity.

I am a feminist because throughout the world women still experience illiteracy at twice the rate of men, because the gender wage gap, although complex, is real, because 1 in 5 women reported experiencing rape is a statistic that should make every soul shudder.

I am a feminist because some men shot Malala in the head because she is a girl who dared to go to school. And she survived and continues to stand up for all women.

I am a feminist because last month, some men in Nigeria kidnapped more than 200 girls and now threaten to sell them into sexual slavery because they dared to go to school. It's been more than a month and these girls are still captive. And when these girls get home (I pray to God they get home), their lives will still be inconceivably hard because they are girls, and because they were victimized. And maybe some of them will never dare to go to school again, but I hope that some of them become crusaders for their own and their sisters' and daughters' sake, because we need them. We all need them.

I am a feminist because when I publicly voiced my anguish at this crime perpetrated against these Nigerian girls, these fellow daughters of Eve, my sisters though I've never met them and don't even know their names, one man--a colleague--instead of taking a moment to weep with me for such an atrocity, chose to question my choice of words, as if the suffering of over 200 courageous schoolgirls were insignificant next to the enticements of a semantic argument.

I am a feminist because yesterday, a young man killed 7 people, including himself, because he felt his mere existence entitled him to sex, and imagined that a murderous rampage was an appropriate revenge for its denial.

I am a feminist because I have to state the obvious: that not all men are monsters, but no man or woman can afford to sit by while the monsters rage.

I am a feminist because sometimes we sit by and say nothing because we've been made afraid or ashamed or powerless to stand up, to speak out. And I'm sick and tired of it.

I am a feminist because the world is far too full of hatred, cruelty, and injustice, and maybe you can't fight them all but it's OK to choose the battles that hit you closest to your heart.

I'm a feminist and so should you.

Image source: http://bodyremember.com/2013/07/06/shes-someone/

Update 6/22/2014: Most of the Nigerian girls are still missing, but now I can pray for some of them, at least, by name.