Final Reflection Post - Feminism

 From The Norton's Book of Woman's Lives by Phyllis Rose 

Final Reflection Post 

The Norton Book of Woman's Lives by Phyllis Rose 

    This semester, we as a class read through and discussed many empowering and influential women who promoted women's equality and their feminist views. Two women that really stuck out to me as being very influential are Bernadette Devlin in The Price of My Soul and Aubre Lorde in her narrative A New Spelling of My Name. Both of these women spoke up and voiced their opinions to the public to pursue a more equal and educated community. Another narrative that stuck out to me was Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman. Eva displayed a prime example of what feminism is when it came to the adjustments she had to make when experiencing the feeling of unhomeliness and how she overcame those setbacks. Some narratives we encountered this semester, sadly, endured cruel and traumatizing experiences such as Nien Cheng in her passage Life and Death in Shanghai and Maya Angelou in her writing I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. These two passages display the lack of attention women got and the real abuse that some women had to go through. No matter if circumstances were great or very poor, all of these women expose the truth behind what feminism really is and how crucial it is to educate yourself on it.  

     After reading all of these narratives, the meaning of feminism slightly changed for me. Feminism, to me, had meant advocating for equal rights for women and men. Now, it has a much deeper meaning than just equality. I now see feminism as respecting all people and devoting your time to educating yourself on this world's rights and wrongs. All these women displayed feminism in the most inspiring way: overcoming obstacles and coming out a stronger person who can then educate and inspire others. Persevering through such terrible discrimination displayed in almost every text shows me how strong these women were. Advocating for your own rights is one thing, but advocating for all the other people going through what you are, who are too scared to speak up, is uplifting and encouraging.