"Sorry Babe, You're a Feminist!"

In the past, the term "feminism" has been so thoroughly dragged through the mud that it now has horribly negative connotations.  I grew up hearing the term "feminazi" used in my own home.  I was too young to know any better back then, and I thought that anything that came from the mouths of my parents was the gospel truth.  However, I now realize how much damage that this smear campaign has caused over the years.

The term "feminazi" alone is so jacked up that I can't even deal with it. To compare women fighting for equality to a group of people who exterminated millions of people is just wrong. The opposition was convinced that women were looking for special treatment somehow.  That we wanted more than what was afforded to men-- and what would that be, exactly? What the hell were they afraid of?!

Basically, yeah.

This was the temperature of the equality movement of the 70's and 80's when I was growing up.  It was such an effective technique of inflicting negative spin, that feminists are afraid to consider themselves feminists, even today.

So for that reason alone, I'm not really angry at the folks that don't want to use the word, despite good intentions.  It's not their fault that ignorant jerks throughout the years have ruined it for us.  But that simple fact does not change what we are.  We are activists, continuing to fight the good fight, and it's time to take it back.  Maybe you'll go so far as to attend a rally or speak with your legislators.  Maybe it's signing an online petition or putting a sticker on your car.  Whatever it is, own your stance and your passion.  Don't let the opposition bully you into fearing who you really are.

If you're with me, then I think you'll appreciate this hilarious little ditty from comedian Katie Goodman.  Check it out. Tell your friends. Spread the word, and remember; there is nothing wrong with being a feminist.  It's the people who are so terrified of women achieving equality that they need to equate us with war criminals who have a problem.

Join UHPP for an inspiring movie night.

VESSEL: A fearless sea captain sails a ship through loopholes in international law, providing abortions
on the high seas, and leaving in her wake a network of emboldened activists who trust women to handle abortion on their own terms.

Thursday, April 30th at 6:30 pm at The Arts Center in Troy. Tickets: $20 per person ($10 for students). For more information visit our event page at Eventbrite.

Vessel begins with a young doctor who lived by the sea, and an unlikely idea. Rebecca Gomperts, horrified by the realities created by anti-abortion law around the world, felt compelled to challenge this. Her method: to provide abortions on a ship in offshore waters.

Her project, Women on Waves, begins as flawed spectacle, a media frenzy, faced with governmental, religious, and military blockades. But with each setback comes a more refined mission, until Rebecca has the revelation that she can use new technologies to bypass law – and train women to give themselves safe abortions using WHO-sanctioned protocols with pills.

We witness the creation of an underground network of emboldened, informed activists, working at the cutting edge of global reproductive rights, who trust women to handle abortion themselves. Vessel is Rebecca’s story: one of a woman who heard and answered a calling, and transformed a wildly improbable idea into a global movement.

Check out the trailer!