I Am: Person> Personal Property

The McCalls Living Life blog is just that. It is a culmination of posts about our struggles and successes that we experience separately and as a family. This post is about a struggle that I have faced most of my life and I know I am not alone.

Even trying to write this, I struggle. I struggle with how it will be perceived. I struggle with how some will jump to conclusions. I struggle with the close-mindedness some will share with me. I struggle with the fear of not doing justice to feminists. I struggle with anger towards those that immediately stopped reading after reading the previous sentence because of the word "feminists." I am a feminist. For those that are unaware, a feminist is someone that believes in equal social, economic, and political opportunities. A misandrist is someone that hates, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against men. There is a difference between being a feminist and misandrist. Recently I read something that said, "You don't have to be anti-man to be pro-woman," and I don't think I've ever seen a better way to describe feminism.

Almost daily, I personally experience either sexist comments and treatment, or sexual harassment in the form of glances, comments, whistles, or physical contact. You might be thinking, well that's meant to be flattering and you should appreciate it. The thing is, I don't. It's crazy to think that every woman on the planet daily experiences the same thing I do, and we're all meant to just accept that we will always be seen as sexual objects. I'm tired of being quiet about it because it's seen as consent and acceptance of the way I and other women are treated. Women give each other compliments all the time so the idea that we can't accept compliments is crazy because we can. The difference is in the delivery of the compliment. When we compliment each other we're doing so out of a desire to build each other up and encourage one another.

It's not okay when we feel uncomfortable towards sexual advances or comments and are made to feel afraid and ashamed to speak up because we won't be taken seriously. It's not okay that I mention equality and I receive sneers and dismissal. It's not okay that I have to live in fear of what a man might do when he won't take no for an answer.

You might be thinking, hey just change what you're wearing because obviously that's the cause. Pause for a second. What I wear or don't wear should NEVER justify the treatment I receive. EVER. Accepting unwanted attention and being treated as personal property should not be my payment to exist in this world.

I am a person. I have goals, opinions, fears, ideas, and flaws. I have things that I am passionate about and the older I get the more I realize that I don't have to be quiet and reserved about the things that make up who I am just because I'm female. I shouldn't have to apologize and make myself smaller because of others' insecurity in their own lives.

I am the daughter of The One True King and that is something to be proud of. He is the one that I live my life for. He made me in His image. He did not breathe life into Eve for her, and her descendants to come, to live in the shadows. He was proud of His creation and He blessed Eve with a great purpose. We are Eve's descendants. How can we not believe that we are destined with a great purpose too?