To many, feminism is a dirty word. Some believe that feminists are bra burning crazy women who hate men. It’s just not the case.

With today being International Women’s Day, I though I’d take the opportunity to share what Feminism means to me, and how women of today are paving the way for the next generation.

Females have come so far in gender equality, but there is still a long way to go.
I want to openly thank all women who have fought hard to improve our status and role bias in our communities and this country. I can’t even comprehend living a life where my role was defined for me before I even existed.

I am incredibly grateful to those women who chose to speak on our behalf, which has enabled me to choose my own path and what it looks like for me.

Feminism means that I have a strong sense of self;
I know that my path is my own;
I can choose to have a family, a career or both;
I determine our own self worth;
I can live a life that is not defined by others;
I can have a vote;
I can hold a role of great responsibility;
That I can believe in what I choose to believe.

But most of all and perhaps the most beautiful is that I have a voice.
I have a voice that will grow stronger and stronger as we nurture our daughters, our nieces and our granddaughters to believe in themselves too.

I do know, however, that it is not just about nurturing the females in our life, it is about nurturing the boys and men to know what gender equality looks like, sounds like and even feels like. We need to share with them that gender equality is healthy and beautiful and it needs to be our present and our future.

Oh and for the record, I don’t hate men, I love them (especially my husband and son) and I wouldn’t burn my bra, they’re too expensive and I like mine!

We’ve still got so far to go in reaching gender equality so we need to keep feminism alive and kicking in our lives!

What does Feminism mean to you?

Until the next rambling, Belinda
This article first appeared on the thesistacode.com