L

Something finally struck me the other day. It hurt and it was embarrassing. It was not a minivan. It was (and this is the point riiiight before you stop reading) the merit of feminism!

My stance on feminism when I was growing up (for most of the time that I've been writing this blog, actually) was that it is a ridiculous, outdated waste of breath that degrades the female position more than it enhances it. I thought of those who called themselves feminists as overzealous power-hungry bitches who were ruining things for the rest of us by drawing attention to our lack of power- something comparable to my stance on ex-nomination and racism, which I'll probably get into later.

To a great extent, the perspective that I had is quite valid indeed. But holding this view pushed me over the edge to becoming something of an misogynist. I was reluctant to read books written by women or listen to their music. I was sure that intellectualism was a masculine thing. Wanting to grow up to be a writer, I figured that the only way that my work would be taken seriously would be if I were to publish under a man's name, something I was reluctant to do for fear of denigrating the male reputation. I surrounded myself with male friends, disgusted by the inanity of what appeared to be the majority of the members of my own gender.

Realizing only recently that the perspective I had was anything but natural, I felt utterly fucking ridiculous. Yes, there is less precedent for female intellectualism than for that of men, but a woman's perspective is capable of being more than simply feminine. I now truly believe that women and men have the capacity for intellectual equality.

I will not go over the edge and rail out against some imagined patriarchy, or decide to take offense to all sexual comments or depictions, or start to spell woman "womyn". I still believe that these things reinforce the perception that women are inferior and whining about how they can't keep up. I am absolutely infuriated by the kind of feminist who does these things; I blame them for the gender-based inferiority complex I never knew I had.

As a girl I aspired to be as witty and articulate as a man. As a woman, I aspire to reform broadcast news practices. The latter is the one that makes sense.