Feminist Friday VI: Claiming your Feminist Identity

I'd like to think I've always been a feminist. I certainly grew up believing I could do anything my male counterparts could do and I was never told otherwise. My first real introduction to feminism was through an amazing anthropology course I took to fulfil some random credits I needed my Freshman year at university. It was taught by the amazing Diane Bell and if I'd never taken that class who knows if I would have ended up a Women's Studies major. She was the first of several very influential Women's Studies professors I was lucky enough to have teach and support me.

The first time I can remember actually claiming my feminist identity, the first time I can remember thinking "No that's not right and I have to do something" was during the summer of 1999. I was 19 and one of my friends had a serious boyfriend and the condom broke. She was upset and went to her family doctor for the morning-after pill.  She was 18 and was in a long-term relationship, but she was about to start college and while they had taken precautions obviously sometimes condoms break.

My friend went to the doctor she'd seen most of her life, someone she trusted and what did they tell her "Sorry we are a family practice. We do what's in the best interest of families." They flat out refused to prescribe it to her. Needless to say she was upset, but I was enraged. How could a medical professional decide that my friend had to face a possibly unwanted pregnancy. It was her body, not the doctors.

So I did what any good friend would do and called Planned Parenthood and got her an appointment with a doctor who really did care about her best interest. She got the morning after pill (which is just a high dose of the pill if you must know) and she didn't become pregnant.  My friend is now herself a doctor and is married with a beautiful new son.

That's my "aha" moment; it's not a great story or an empowering story but it's how I remember it. I'd like to think I've always been a feminist, but the first time I can really remember claiming my feminist identity was that day. When did you claim yours?

Claiming Your Feminist Identity

Here's how it works. Write a blog post about being a feminist mom, raising a feminist child, a rant or anything that falls under the realm of being a feminist mom based or the theme for the week. Come back and link your post and post the button on your blog.


That's it.


You don't even have to be a blogger to take part - just send me your post and I will publish it on my blog for you. You don't even have to include your name if you prefer.


When you've published it, come back on Friday and via a widget thing you can add a link to your post and share it with everyone. The link remains open for 4 days.


Visit others, comment if you like them or feel inspired by them. Just go out and encourage and support other feminist Moms.


The more support you give, the more you will get back! I can't wait to meet and interact with other feminist moms around the world!