If someone were to ask my high school self what feminism meant to me I would have most likely said nothing. My reasoning for this answer simply would be because, living in the bubble of teenage ignorance, I had access to the everything I felt I needed. I lived in an upper middle class area, went to a great school and was well taken care of, some would even say spoiled…but that’s beside the point. Other than the occasional obnoxious statements made by high school boys exposing me to the existence of double standards, I never really had to get defensive about my womanhood. Unbeknownst to me, double standards were just a small taste of the social turmoil that women face.
Then something happened that changed my views on feminism, I went to college. Coming to college allowed me to physically see the women of the world who had to be feminists. Before I came to college, I didn’t get to see women who had to fight and march for access to things such as birth control and other preventative health care services. Until then, feminism to me was just women wanting to be treated the same as men but it is much more than that.
As an African American woman in college and just a woman in general, the word feminism has come to mean so much more to me. Feminism, amongst other things, means being empowered, dictating what happens to your body, and standing for equality in the face adversity. In my opinion, being a feminist also means having the right to show your feminism in whatever way works for you. I have never been one to march, protest, or even share my views on social media platforms. Some may see this as not fully supporting the movement or not being involved but empowerment can be present in any form. Every day, through social media and the actions of women in my community, I am reminded of what a privilege it is to be a woman. To me, feminism is all about consciously bringing empowerment into our communities, standing for the rights of one another and letting those things manifest themselves in whatever way you see fit.