I’d like to begin this week’s post with a story from spring break. Over the break, I worked at the petting zoo at the Nederland Heritage Festival. At one point, three little girls came in the zoo. They were asking which animals were the leaders of each group (the most dominent of each species). I told them about how Brownie (one of our female goats) was the leader of the goats. The three girls gasped and asked, “A girl is the boss!? How can a girl be the boss? Only boys are bosses.” I got really serious, bent down next to them and said, “Listen to me. ANY girl can be the boss. And if someone tells you different, don’t listen to them, because girls make awesome bosses.” Did I just contradict what their family had told them before? Maybe. But oh well. It makes me really upset to see children so young, thinking that they can never be leaders. That type of mindset can really limit them, when they should be able to grow and know that they have unlimited potential.

This brings me to my topic of discussion this week: anti-feminists. These people will try to contradict everything you say, even if they don’t disagree, just because you’re a feminist. They’ll call you a femi-nazi. They’ll tell you that women shouldn’t do men’s jobs. And I bet you all know one of them. I’ve found in my travels that the south has far more anti-feminists than the north. This has a lot to do with upbringing, tradition, and region. Regardless of reasoning, it’s really frustrating when you come across someone who thinks women belong in the kitchen or that they don’t own their own bodies. And of course when you try to correct them, they act as if THEY are the ones who’ve been wronged. HOW???

I get angry just thinking about it. But I’ve actually come across several articles on how to deal with these types of people without completely losing it on them.

This particular article was written by feminist, who like many of us, has dealt with a lot of negativity about their advocacy for women’s rights. Here is the link: http://everydayfeminism.com/2012/12/the-pain-of-being-feminist-in-an-anti-feminist-world/

In it, the author describes what you should do in different situations. Often, just walking away is a good solution when you can see that you aren’t getting through to them. This keeps you from outbursting in response to their disrespect and it deprives them of an opportunity to continue ranting. In addition, remaining positive and looking for the good in people is also encouraged in the article. Change won’t come over night, but that doesn’t mean you should ever give up or give in on your advocacy for a good cause.

I encourage you guys to read the article and others like it. I’ve found them very helpful and encouraging. (Some are also very funny!)

P. S. I apologize if any of this post has typos or is formatted wrong. Our Internet has been out so I’ve had to use my phone for school work.