She's looking For It

“If you go looking for something, you’ll probably find it. And the harder you look the more likely you are to find it.”

This writer was reminded of this grandmotherly advice while reading through other feminist blogs.

And at the risk of being labeled a “bad feminist” this writer wants to point something out.

If you go looking for sexism, you will find it. And the harder you go looking for it the more likely you are to find it.

This writer sees so many posts across Instagram and Twitter that attack men for their complicity in the continuation of sexism. But, ladies, how is this helping?

If the whole point of feminism to create equality between men and women, to have the two sexes working together as a team to the best of everyone’s abilities, and to give everyone the chance to be their best, most authentic person, then how does attacking half of the team help?

This writer is saddened by those who have taken up the mantle of feminism in anger. Yes, any movement needs the energy that anger provides. It is the umph that sets the ball in motion. It is the hefty push that overcomes societal inertia.

But once that anger has subsided, some other engine must take over. A movement cannot rely entirely on a single push for eternal propulsion.

Think, dear readers, of the lowly wooden rollercoaster. The train is dragged up the first hill, slowly approaching the xenyth, the tension rising, until finally it is unleashed from its chains and set free. Flying through the track that initial tension keeps the train and all who ride it flying forward. But, dear reader, remember how the roller coaster ride ends. Back where it began. Without a new and different source of energy the train will forever continue in its fixed loop.

So please, dear reader, this writer implores that we move the conversation beyond anger. That logic, compassion, and teamwork are employed to achieve our goals.

Otherwise, like the rollercoaster, feminism is doomed to repeat itself, looping back again and again, dragged forward by the chains of its anger.