How I Became a Feminist

After Ms. Finch’s talk, I started to think about all the ways that Gov’s has affected me and made me more of a feminist. When I started school here I never would have called myself a feminist. Growing up, my parents instilled feminist values in me but that word almost sounded dirty to me. It wasn’t until the middle of my freshman year, in a late night conversation with Kyra that it all started to click for me. We were watching a stupid movie and she somehow brought up the topic of feminism, and I responded something like ‘ew I would never call myself a feminist,’ to her comment. She went on a long rant about how, of course I’m a feminist because I am equal to any man. That conversation really stuck with me, because it was the first night that I really considered myself to be a feminist. I’m thankful for Gov’s because here, feminist isn’t a dirty word. All my role models here have been avid, self proclaimed feminists, which has in turn given me the confidence to be one as well.

It also made me think about all the books that I’ve read, at Gov’s and outside of Gov’s, and how they impacted me. Growing up I loved books like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, both of which have strong female characters. In Harry Potter, Hermione is the one who consistently keeps Harry and Ron from getting killed. She is the intelligent, strong one and their voice of reason. In The Hunger Games, Katniss is the protagonist, she is strong minded and badass. These were my role models growing up, I wanted to be smart and hardworking like Hermione and powerful and brave like Katniss. I have been a feminist my whole life, but as a young girl I was too afraid to claim the title. I am so thankful for my Gov’s role models because now when people ask me if I’m a feminist, I can proudly say yes.