Did you show sparks of feminism when you were a child? This was on that gift and source of sewage called ‘social media’, this time a gift as the answers (I’ll start with my own) are fab. Fascinating. Frustrating. Informative. Don’t tell and teach girls (and people of color) that everyone is equal in ‘Merica if and when the lie that teaching is slaps us in the face every single day. All shared here anonymously except the first!
Me: I saw a film on TV about the papacy, & announced to my mother that I wanted to be pope when i grew up, only to be told (basically) that i couldn’t bc incorrect genitalia. I started noticing that women cleaned the church, arranged flowers, sang in choir, cooked for the priests, & were in fact 2nd class citizens. I left the church & started noticing similar bullshit everywhere. I was 9.
In 2nd grade 1961 catholic grade school, I refused to wear a head covering to mass. The nuns called my mom in. The compromise was that I would wear a Kleenex rather than lace. A few years later, I would not babysit. Instead I made 20x as much shoveling snow, raking leaves, mowing lawns. plenty of negative, sexist comments. Prepared me for my career as a lawyer.
If there was a boy on the playground who wouldn’t leave some girls alone after they had asked they would come find me and then I would deal with the boys. I wasnt intimidated by them at all and had a reputation for sticking up for people. I may have also helped organize a pinecone barrage against a group of boys during “the pinecone wars.”
I had a brother who was a year younger than I am. He routinely got different privileges than I did because he was a boy. This is the basis for my feminism.
I had no brothers and had no idea that women were treated differently until I started working. My mom and dad were military. I didn’t even know my mom lost her career when she got pregnant. I led a somewhat sheltered female existence.
When I was probably 8 years old, I asked my dad why women have to shave their legs. He said, “Because men like smooth legs.” I said, “Then why don’t they shave their own legs?”
I remember being angry at the Peter and Jane reading books when I was 5. (Early 1960s) Peter was playing football with Daddy in the garden while Jane was helping Mummy with the washing up. I still remember the indignation!
In 8th grade, in January 1969, it was freaking cold and we always walked to school. We all wore snow pants, or pants of some kind, & took them off when we got to school. Girls had to wear dresses. One day, my 2 friends & I decided to keep our pants on because the school was cold. We got stopped in 3rd period by the school vice principal and told we had to take our pants off. All 3 of us said no and were sent home from school. The next year, girls were allowed to wear pants or dresses to school!
As a child I listened to our Episcopal priest sermonize about how we shouldn’t allow women into the priesthood because there were already too many male priests. I kept thinking about the concept of allowing the “cream to rise to the top.” Why not have everyone interested study for the priesthood and accept the most effective? That’s when I began to phase out of organized religion.
When I was in Kindergarten I started a club to train girls to run away from mean boys. I literally had all the girls in Kinder doing laps around the playground!
My father was a high school educated man who was a master sergeant in the Air Force in OK. In The 60’s Barbara Jordan was a Black, gay woman in the House of Representatives in TX. I was 12 years old and my dad told me she should be president. He talked about her often with such respect. My dad was a feminist before there was the word feminist. I became a feminist at 12 modeling after my father.
California 1961, 4th grade. We were learning about pronouns, specifically third person singular (he, she, it) used following an indefinite pronoun (everyone, etc) antecedent. The teacher said the proper singular was ‘he’: “Did everyone bring his permission slip?” I asked, “What about the girls’ permission slips if we use only the masculine pronoun?” The teacher replied, “he implies both masculine and feminine.” I clearly remember thinking, “No it doesn’t.” I became an English major.
When I was around 15 my father said I could pick out a watch that he would receive as a milestone anniversary gift from the company he worked for. I wanted the bronze pocket watch that had ducks on the back and a long chain. He picked the princess ladies’ watch with diamond chips around its face instead. I never wore it.
I realized, at about age 10, that the James Bond character was so stupid. He know all those ladies are trying to kill him, but he beds them anyway, and now they wanna protect him? I was too young to differentiate between mysogeny and Hollywood fantasy, but nowadays, I don’t see much difference. And of course, I got the perpetual “you can’t do that, you’re a girl” bs for decades.
When I was in primary School, girls did dancing and boys played football. I wanted to play football so when it was P.E I went and sat on the football field in protest. It was 1993 and I was 10 years old.
I always wondered why I had to wear a skirt to school and why I had to sit down with my legs closed instead of being able to feel comfortable. Why was I responsible if boys looked up my skirt?
According to most adults when I was a child, I was supposed to be a “proper young lady”, neatly dressed, tucked in a corner, seen and not heard. Thank the Goddess for my Mama, who instead told me: “Girl, don’t you stoop nor bow to anyone! You stand straight and tall, and spit in their eye if they cross you!” When other people tried to make me be small and quiet, she always had my back. Thanks, Mama.
My parents were called to a meeting at my school. During the daily 5 minute visit by our parish priest, I asked why there were no women priests. I was reprimanded in front of the entire class. It was suggested that I be punished more severely at home. My parents were humiliated. They grounded me for a month.
I didn’t like that girl cartoon characters were characterized by long eyelashes and extremely feminine traits, while the boys got to be the main characters and didn’t have any concerns about being pretty, they were accepted for who they were even when they messed up.
I grew up pretty poor and had mostly hand me down clothes or home made clothes. One of the boys was making fun of my clothes in the cafeteria so I took the ketchup bottle and sprayed his white shirt with ketchup. I was in the third grade. When I told the principal why I had done it, he just sent me back to class. I swear I heard him laughing as I was leaving. No one in my class ever made fun of my clothes again.
Primary school in the late 70s, I used to train with the soccer team but “girls weren’t allowed to play”. It pissed the rest of the team off because I was one of the best players! A few years later they banned girls from the oval at lunchtime. And so the feminist in me was ignited.
These are so great, I’ma gonna do another blog with ’em. That’s all for now, tho. ROCK ON, WOMEN.