Still Tilting at Windmills

 Today I had a revelation.

 

I am not a Feminist.

I am a HUMANIST.*

 

I think we should be focusing less on women’s issues and more on people’s issues. Much of what started as the fundamentals of the Women’s Movement and Feminism – equality, right to work, right to be represented and to represent, right to a voice in the community and culture – these are the same rights that gays fight for, that the physically and/or mentally disabled (or are we supposed to say differently-abled? I’m not getting into that here**) are fighting for, that just about anybody who is not a member of the ruling class, whatever it is, are fighting for.  Misogyny and misogynic cultures? Not a women’s issue, it’s a people’s issue. All of the issues – they’re about HUMAN RIGHTS. Not women’s rights, or gay rights, or [insert oppressed group name here] rights. It’s about making sure that every human on the planet has the same rights and responsibilities.

 

Well, yeah, responsibilities too. You can’t just take and not give; you can’t use up and not replace. It may have been Dan Savage (and forgive me if got the cite wrong; feel free to correct me in the comments) who talked about the good camper theory in the frame of relationships –leave your site as good as, if not better, that when you got there. I’d say this works as a good guide to treating other people (as well as the planet.) Pick up your garbage (real and methaphorical) and throw it away, or better, recycle it into something useful.

 

*I probably should be using "an humanist." I think that's even clumsier than the correct spelling of thru, so I will ignore it.
**I'm likely to call myself a crippled old lady and be done with it. I've been given so many hurtful labels over the years that I feel all labels are potentially hurtful; it's just the intention that matters, not the label.