Being Feminist

I have never called myself a feminist. Sure, I believe that women are equal. I believe that women should have reproductive freedom. I believe that women should be paid the same for doing the same job as men. I don’t believe in free rides for anyone. Basically, I believe in equality. But I am not a feminist!! We are equal. What do we need to fight for anymore? We’ve won the battle. There is no more need for feminism and women’s rights! Or so I thought.

Even in our modern society women on average continue to earn 2/3 of the income of their male counterparts. Women make up the majority of illiterate population, even in the U.S. The porn industry continues to make “legitimate” movies portraying victimizing women and then peddle it as entertainment. So, are we equal? Obviously not! Even though women have proven themselves viable and equal in the workplace, many people continue to promote woman as the subordinate. Women who prefer being single and not having children are looked on as frigid, while men with the same views are bachelors. Women who do not practice monogamy are scorned and labeled a whore, while men are just called players.
When suddenly all this information came crashing down on me, I could no longer deny it! I am a feminist! So having said that, how do I escape the stereotype trap? When I declare myself a feminist, how do I escape the “obvious” conclusion that I am indeed a man-hating, liberal, hairy arm-pitted lesbian hippie? Why does our society feel the need to place labels on everyone? I’m sorry but I don’t fit into to some mold. I’m my own person and as such can still be a feminist without being any of the above. If I really was, I would hope that I would have the guts to declare it and be proud of who I am. We all have to escape these boxes that people try to put us in.

But let’s face it, I’m not. Although I know my mother is just waiting for me to add lesbian to the already shameful list of pierced (nose), vegetarian, feminist and animal rights activist. Or even worse, Democrat! Horrors! So why is feminism viewed as so bad? Even I used the word fem-nazi, one coined by the extreme right-winger Rush Limbaugh, to describe girls I knew. The word for me meant a woman who hated men. Looking back, I realize how wrong I was. I fell into the stereotype trap so easily made for women just like me. I didn’t question it, I just laughed behind my hand at the feminists like everyone else. So, if I’m not any of the stereotypes listed above, who am I and why is feminism so important to me?

Well, it’s very hard to sum yourself up and not bore your audience to death, or worse come off as self-involved, so I will simply give a short and sweet overview of the relevant points. I am a very recent vegetarian and animal rights activist (I gave up meat a little over two years ago). Economically, I am conservative but socially I’m liberal. This means that I think that government should keep their noses out of our personal lives and that they should stop trying to fix society’s ills with subsidized programs that only end up wasting precious tax dollars. I believe that we should (in the words of my Grandfather) “mind our own damn business” when it comes to interference in foreign affairs. Yes I do have my ears pierced. I do shave. (Both not really important but I am trying to do away with all the stereotypes.) Along with that point, I am not a hippie nor am I a yuppie. I love big cities and I am a confessed shopaholic. I am obsessed with beauty products, make-up and anything sparkly. (Hardly hippie behavior!) On the other hand, I also prefer to buy natural and organic food and avoid purchasing any product tested on animals if I can. In the spiritual arena, I am still searching and really who isn’t.
I am a feminist but not because I was abused or treated as a subordinate by the men in my life. I simply want to see a better way. I believe that women have been second long enough. I want my children to live in a world where they can achieve based on their merits not their sex. And most of all, I want to not have to worry about discrimination as I enter the work force. In the end, sometimes I think that I have a desire to fix everything. This may be true, but where would we be without all the people who tried to “fix things”? (Probably back in the Middle Ages!) I hope that wasn’t too long and boring but there it is. Me, condensed into a paragraph and by no means complete.
So who are feminists? We are people who believe that work still needs to be done in the fight for equality between the sexes and finally we do not want to be confined by stereotypes and judgements made by others. We are men and women, heterosexual and homosexual, we belong to all races, religions and backgrounds and we are fed up! For being what we are!

The CrossFit Girl

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet--> Beauty with a whip fist to blow your brains off (just saying.. hehe), and drop your eyeballs.

I read about her while shopping online for whey Protein and what I read and saw is something that holds you for a moment gazing at the cute face she has, the pretty body and the built she has struggled with. Camille is one of the world’s top CrossFit athletes and currently ranks as the 6th-fittest woman on Earth. She has finished in the top 10 at the Reebok CrossFit Games for the past three years, improving her placing each year (9th in 2010, 8th in 2011, and 6th in 2012). She has also been the highest-placing Canadian athlete at the Games each of the past three years, male or female, which makes her the fittest woman in her country. Along with her CrossFit accomplishments, Camille has qualified for the National Championship in weightlifting in Canada, while also remaining a full-time student in chemical engineering at the University of Sherbrooke. So one can call her 'Beauty with muscles and brains'..

Camille has been a competitive athlete her entire life. She did high-level gymnastics for 14 years, starting at 2 years old and retiring at 16 in order to coach younger girls and to try new sports. She played senior AA soccer, played volleyball in high school, was the captain of her college flag football team, and also enjoys running half-marathons, skiing and playing rugby. Always passionate about sports and health, Camille is continuing her sports education and working toward her Olympic lifting, CrossFit and gymnastic certifications. She is also interning to be on the staff for CrossFit Headquarters and to coach with legendary Olympic lifting coach Mike Burgener.

Camille’s profile continues to rise and she is constantly in demand for appearances and photo shoots, and has graced the covers of numerous sports and fitness publications. She’s also been nominated as one of the five most influential female athletes in Canada. With her youth, athleticism and dedication to constant improvement, Camille’s career seemingly has nowhere to go but up. Wishing more women join in with the concept of health parallel to beauty and outlook.

The Lady Drives in The Motor Cycle

I am publishing in its entirety the pamphlet that the Enfield Cycle Co. produced in 1916 in order to entice more female riders. Here is the coverage its publication got the The Motor Cycle. Ipad users may need to go to the URL to see it.

Royal Enfield was a pioneer in female ridership. Already in 1912 they had produced an enclosed "ladies" motorcycle. To try to boost female ridership, the company produced in 1916 a pamphlet called "The lady drives" featuring several female riders.

The first entry has Mrs. Walter Baseley riding a sidecar rig. In the opposite page is the following text:

"There is something irresistibly fascinating in being one's own driver -the `captain of the craft'- instead of merely reposing as a passenger in the cosy comfort of a sidecar. To have the means of journeying just when and where one's inclination leads; to take the high road or the by-road as fancy may dictate; to be as free as the air, and dependent on no one; all these delights -and many more- belong to the lady motorist".

"It is our purpose in the following pages to show that motor cycling with a a side-car combination is a pastime eminently befitting the fair sex. The illustrations have been reproduced from photographs of lady motorists who drive their own Royal Enfields; whilst their letters, which we reprint by special permission, will best describe the pleasures motor cycling has conferred upon them."

"For the lady driver a reliable, easily-controlled motor cycle is a sine qua non. In the 6-h.p. Royal Enfield Side-car Combination we offer a model which experienced lady motorists endorse as the finest vehicle on three wheels ever produced. It is beautifully constructed -everything arranged with care and discrimination- and it is tastefully finished in a style which commands admiration from motorists the world over."

"Made like a gun, goes like a bullet" So many Enfield stories. So little time!