I am declaring myself a feminist. No, not one of the man hating variety. Rather, I what to support women in anything they want to do. If I woman wants to have a high powered career, more power to her! If she wants to be a stay-at-home mom, I will support her right to that equally as fiercely.

I believe men and woman should have equal pay for equal work, just on principle. (Hardly anyone likes working, so we should all be compensated fairly.) I also support maternity leave for both men and women, because not every woman wants to stay home and some men do. I believe in specialized health care for women and for men. We all have different bits that require different care. I believe sexual harassment is wrong, no matter who is doing it. (Women can sexually harass too!) And I believe we should all have control over our own bodies (which means no rape too), as long as we are mentally capable of understanding what we are doing or not doing to them.

I see men and women as being different but also the same. We are all human beings, trying to find our way in a complicated and overwhelming world. Sometimes we are told to be strong, other times we are encouraged to show our emotions. Patriotism is lauded, but it is also dismissed as destructive. I think we all need to support each other in finding our own paths to happiness, so long as they don’t trample on the happiness of others.

Just don’t get me started on that “wommin”, “womyn”, “herstory” stuff…