7/10/2014 Gmail - Why Feminism Can Transform Your Life

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Ericka Torres Terrazas <erickatt@gmail.com>
Why Feminism Can Transform Your Life
1 mensaje
Everyday Feminism <melissa@everydayfeminism.com> 7 de octubre de 2014, 7:06
Responder a: Everyday Feminism <melissa@everydayfeminism.com>
Para: ericka_tt@yahoo.com.mx
As promised, I wanted to share with you why I chose feminism as the approach to
working through issues and transforming our lives.

It may not seem like the most obvious choice. But it's actually a very empowering
framework to understand your world and your place in it.
At Everyday Feminism, feminism makes it the norm that all people are human beings
and every person deserves the same rights and opportunity to determine their own lives
regardless of their social status.
But society does a lot of things to make that the exception and there's a lot of things
that get in the way of that coming true for people.
How Elitist Society Messes Us Up
We live in a elitist, judgmental society where almost everyone grows up thinking that
there's something wrong with them. Usually the reason why we think we're not good
enough falls along the lines of gender, sexual orientation, race, class, etc.
Here's some of what our society teaches us. Women need to be size 2 with big breasts to
be attractive. Men need to make the big bucks and be having lots of sex or they lose
their "man card". LGBTQ people should hide in the closet and just pretend to be straight
or cisgender. Black men shouldn't run in public even if they're in a hurry or else people
will get scared. Poor women should feel guilty about leaving their children at home
alone to work multiple low-wage jobs.
In addition to that, certain groups of people are disproportionately targeted for acts of
violence and abuse. 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually molested as a child. 1 in
4 women experience domestic violence. Intimate partner homicides accounted for 30% of
7/10/2014 Gmail - Why Feminism Can Transform Your Life
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the murders of women and 5% percent of the murders of men. Almost half of all hate
crimes are due to race and those are primarily against Black people. 1 in 3 gays and
lesbian youth attempt suicide. 55% of transgender youth report being physically
attacked.

Between what society tell us about what we're worth and people violently informing us
of our value, it makes total sense that we don't actually think we're good enough.
This is where feminism comes in.
How Feminism Helps You Make Sense Of All This Awfulness
You see, all these terrible things are happening all around us and to us. But they're so
common that we think they're normal. We don't even realize it when it's happening to
us a lot of the times!
And when we do realize it, we're ashamed of ourselves and what happened to us. So we
don't talk about it with others. We actually blame it on ourself!
In a hierarchical society where certain groups are seen as less than other groups and
where people are socially limited to certain roles, it makes sense (but isn't right) that
all these terrible things happen to people.
Feminism helps you name these things as wrong and dehumanizing - not normal and
legitimate as we're taught.
That's the first step. To realize that you're not wrong. It's just the world's wrong and
you can see through their bullshit. So they try to make you look like the bad one.
You start seeing that you're not alone in going through these things. There are cultural
norms and institutional practices that encourage all these terrible things to happen.
So of course it happened to you. It's happening to tons of people!
Once you know that, you can start fighting.
Start fighting to not blame yourself, to not simply follow the crowd, to push against
social norms.
And this isn't easy. But feminism can help.
How Feminism Can Help You Transform Your Life
Once you realize you're just a compassionate one in a dehumanizing world, you can start
questioning what you've been taught and figure out things for yourself.
7/10/2014 Gmail - Why Feminism Can Transform Your Life
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Feminism supports you in questioning the boxes you've been put in. It supports you in
finding your own truth and bucking social norms, if that's what's needed.
Feminism addresses the shame you feel about expressing who you truly are. It believes
you're enough as you are, that you have inherent self-worth.
Feminism helps us come together to work through our pain and suffering. It shows us
how what happens to us doesn't determine our value or the kind of life we lead.
We can determine our own self-worth and our own lives - if we fight for it.
How We Can Help You Do That
Everyday Feminism was created to help give you the information, tools, and support to
heal from and stand up to the everyday oppression we face, through our:
Online magazine - With its daily articles, you get new ways of thinking and practical
tips
Forum - Meet other feminists and chat about what's important to you
Online courses - Go deeper by getting both expert and community support in
developing a loving relationship with yourself and with others
What Do You Think?
Let me know what you think about this explanation of how feminism can help you in
your everyday life. Do you agree? Disagree?
I'd love to hear your thoughts! And I promise to reply.

Hope to hear from you soon,
Sandra, Melissa, and the Everyday Feminism Team

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7/10/2014 Gmail - Why Feminism Can Transform Your Life
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