You follow a bunch of cool Tumblr blogs and retweet the most inspirational feminist tweets. Sometimes when your misogynistic uncle says something rude on Facebook, you reply with a bad ass quote.
That’s great! Feminism can manifest in all shapes and forms, but there’s one crucial aspect of feminism that, lately we seem to be missing.
Let’s have the talk… About talking!
Feminism is complex, its foundation comes from many years of different ideologies, histories, and peoples. When you really sit down and look at feminism, each person can have their own concept of what it truly means to be equal through the lens of a woman.
That is because we all have different lives with different backgrounds and different forms of our own personal equalities. Sometimes, you can meet someone who’s a feminist as well, and you both can still have different views on what equality might mean.
That’s okay, as long as the end goal is still about equality.
However, lately I’ve noticed that the more “hype” feminism gets (i.e. cool t-shits, girl clubs, quotes and following on social media), the less talking is actually happening.
Feminism is a conversation, truly it’s about talking with men and women about equality. That’s how we can start to see eye to eye and understand one another on different issues. We’re missing out on the conversation that comes with feminism.
So today, right now, I’m starting a discussion about, well, having that discussion!
Some of the best conversations I’ve ever had have been with a girlfriend or someone that opposes feminism. It can be anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour.
No matter what, here are the things that you should do when trying to have an awesome conversation about feminism.
1. Listen
2. Do your reach
3. Be vulnerable.
That’s it! Now you’re ready. It’s time to start engaging in a feminist dialogue. I encourage you to go out and find a book that you really like about feminism, because the more you know about the topic, the better conversation you will have. One of my favorite books is “Bad Feminist” by Roxane Gay. For me, this book opened up a new dialogue and allowed me to start talking with women and men about their views.
Once you’re ready to listen and have done some research it’s time to be vulnerable! Open yourself up and start talking.
Why am I so adamant about getting a discussion started? Because- that’s how real change happens! It’s great to be social media savvy and have friends that blog about the things you say… but I feel like our society is really missing out on some awesome dialogue.
SmartFem viewers, it’s up to you, let’s get this conversation started and start talking about feminism!
Meet over drinks, coffee and food! Meet with people who agree or disagree with you! Let’s just keep the conversation alive!
Let me know what you talked about on Twitter: @MonicaSampson_ and @smartfemmagazin
