On feminism

I consider myself a feminist happily and openly. I'm not overly passionate about it (the term I would use in every day life is Feminazi) but I do believe that women are just as valuable as men and deserve equal opportunities. Emphasis on the "equal."

What anyone chooses to do with those equal opportunities should be entirely up to them. As a brief example, my sister is incredibly intelligent. She is very political, has learned to speak Arabic, French and Spanish in her spare time (not as a class) and dreamed of being an advisor for the white house at some point. There is a shocking lack of people in government who speak Arabic, considering the current state of the world. And I don't mean politicians, I mean advisors, translators, etc... I won't say that I always agree with her politics but I loved that she had a dream and the passion to make it work.

But now instead of going back to college to get her next degree and make a start on this dream, she has decided to have children and wait. I respect her choice because it is what she desperately wants. I admit that I feel a little apprehensive about a few things and mildly disappointed that someone of such intelligence and passion isn't going to follow through with her dreams... but she is, really. Just a different dream. Who knows, maybe she'll change the world through her children. To me, that's what feminism is all about. Choice.

I won't bother writing about how I reconcile feminism and submission. I have nothing to say on the subject that hasn't been said in a thousand other blogs. But the other day I came across a blog written by a feminist domme. Hardly shocking, really, except that she claimed to have dedicated her life to making sure that all men knew they were scum. To treating men like the worms they are and to forcing them to recognise the superiority of women in every aspect of life. Her words, obviously.

I was stunned. It occured to me that if I saw a dom's blog that said that all women everywhere should submit because they were the inferiour to men and that all women should recognise the superiority of a penis (no matter who the penis is attatched to) I would decide he was a horrible dom and run a mile!! Why should it be any different for a domme? Why should anyone have to build themselves up by tearing someone else down? That is, frankly, pretty childish behaviour.

Personally, I think making generalisations about any group of people based on a feature or two is incredibly wrong. I do not submit to my Master because he has a penis. I do not submit to all men because I have a vagina. I do not believe that I should submit or that I am not as good as a man and need protection. I submit because I choose to. I submit to my Master because I love and trust him and I believe he deserves my respect. My submission is a gift that is freely given and graciously accepted. Why should gender have anything to do with it?