Are You A Feminist?

My 19 year old brother recently asked me after a conversation we had, "What are you one of those FEMINISTS?" "No!" I instantly replied, but immediately thought, "Yes!... No, well not THAT kind of feminist."
Do you know the kind I mean? Those "feminists" who have been coined femi-nazis. The man hating, burn your bras, I can do everything better than a man, men should be locked up and only used for breeding purposes, feminists. I feel like that is the sort of feminism we now associate with the word. It has gotten a whole new meaning and that meaning is not something I identify with. The definition I identify with is that straight out of the dictionary.

Feminism: the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

I identify with equal opportunity for men and women. I identify with equal freedom for men and women, the idea that women are just as capable as men. The idea that men and women are compatible and should work together. I identify with the fact that women are powerful, that sometimes they have gifts and abilities that men do not. How many quotes are there out there about this? "If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family/nation/generation." Or one of my favorites:

I do not identify with the man bashing, raising women to trample on top of men "feminism". I will admit I have had my moments of saying things such as, "I hate men. Guys are dumb." etc. This is usually during a frustrated rant with friends about some sort of dating/men drama of mine or theirs. I have tried to be a lot better over the past few years about trying to correct myself when I saw things like this. I don't hate MEN, sometimes I hate the dating, guy/girl drama, miscommunication stuff, but some of the best people I know are men. I've got a whole family full of great guys. Are they flawless? No, but neither are the women. (Although, to tell you the truth I've got a few family members who I swear come pretty dang close.)

So, am I a feminist? Yes, but a by the dictionary definition of feminist. If you were to look at the pages I "like" on Facebook, you would see, (amongst the German Shepherd kennels, dog training, animal rescue, Idaho, horse barns, beautiful world, etc. pages) several pages about strong women. Pages like A Mighty Girl, Fit is a Feminist Issue, Girls Are Not For Sale, etc. So, yes I am a Feminist. 

With that being said, there will definitely be some posts on here that are more strictly about feminism, and not just featuring powerful women. After all, isn't sharing powerful women who broke barriers, defied the odds, and proved that she could do anything feminism?