This will be a bit of a rant

First off, feminism is supposed to be about believing that people are equal because we're all human beings, and I disagree with the dichotomy currently existant between the ideal and the label. If I say I'm a feminist, people will assume that I'm one of the shouty ones unless I qualify the statement with my general philosophy of the human condition. I'm not sure I'm ready to casually share that with semi-random acquaintances (y'all on Prose are a terrific community, so don't think you're included in that. Weird is good here). I hate how the few have twisted the meaning for the many. I believe that we all merit a baseline of respect and consideration because we're all human. Past that, some people may be intrinsically "worth more" in the eyes of society, but the social hierarchy isn't necessarily a good indicator of whether or not someone is a decent human being.

Secondly, there's this idea that being a woman means being proud of yourself, but it's an incredibly thin line to walk. Sometimes there is the connotation that if you don't conform to a certain beauty ideal, then you somehow fall short of achieving the enlightened state of womanhood or something. I call fluff on this - holding everyone in any group to a single standard is unreasonable. Some of us like wearing pants and doing physics, just like some of us like wearing skirts and makeup and designing clothes, or wearing sweatpants and writing short stories. The important thing is to see people as people, not labels (and 'normal' is an elusive concept outside the realm of geometry). I feel like feminism now is associated with the idea that men are inherently different from women. They are in some ways, but they're not a different species. I really wish that people would stop trying to make it seem as though there is some reason why being male/female/other matters unless you're trying to date the person. My personal philosophy is that I really don't care (so long as I'm not offending the person by using the wrong pronoun). Their gender has absolutely no bearing on whether or not they are a decent human being - I've known jerks and angels of all flavors.

This brings me to my third point. I guess I just really don't get what the deal is. For some people, their gender is an integral part of their identity, and I respect that. For me, the fact that I am female is largely irrelevant. I have been addressed as "dude" and "man" both in the conversational and literal sense (the speaker was not paying too close attention, and extremely embarrassed). I don't really care, so long as the person isn't trying to belittle me solely on the basis that I am female. My gender has no effect on the fact that all this will encourage me to do is prove them wrong even if it involves working my tail end off. I was never good at backing down from a challenge, and this is certainly no exception.

I want to wrap up by saying that people are people, and should be treated as such. This isn't Animal Farm - at least, it shouldn't be - where all are equal but some are more equal than others. People deserve respect and consideration; defining people by labels is a risky business at best. I love y'all at Prose, this is an awesome and welcoming community, and be wary of underestimating the power of small and angry.