Sarah's Thoughts

How do you define feminism? Why are you a feminist? When did you become one?

To me feminism is simply the quest for equal rights (political, social and economical) for women to those of men. This is a quest that I fully support but as with most other movements some extremists have taken it too far and have become hypocritically chauvinistic. As far as I can remember I have always felt that I deserved equal rights to those of men. There has been a drive for fairness and social justice in my soul since I was a teenager which has brought about other issues to my consciousness like racism and speciesism.

2. What has surprised you most about parenthood?

That nature is stronger than nurture, in other words; your children are born with their personalities already formed.

3. What skills have you learned or honed as a parent?

Organising, planning, delegating, learning to let go and many others I'm sure.

4. What work do you feel called to do? (You don't need to limit your answer to one thing).

My call has lead me to help people and animals. it's what i seem to focus on anyway. caring for and teaching children has always been a huge part of my life too. all stereotypically feminine duties but i feel good with that because in my oppinion there is no less value in them than what other women and men are doing.

5. Could you put your identity into a few key words? ie. mother-writer-student. How do you imagine your identity changing in ten years? Or twenty?

Woman-wife-daughter-sister-mother-caregiver-teacher-environmentalist-feminist....in ten years or more I hope there are many changes but I know not what they will be which is exciting.

6. What is work? What is leisure? Do you have enough time to do the work that you want to do?

Work and leisure are intertwined for me...they are life and I seek to find a balance.

7. Payment is the most obvious way to assign value to work; are there other ways?

In helping people and in enjoying myself.

8. When people ask: what do you do, how do you reply? How does your reply make you feel?

Usually I say that I am a stay-at-home Mom who looks after other children also. It seems for most other people that this is not an interesting line of work because typically they don't comment at all. This is a contrast to what I observe other people being asked about different jobs. It feels great though when the odd person expresses appreciation for what I do.

The fact that people who do what I do are paid very low is a reflection of the value society places on my job....more work for feminists!

9. How have your goals for yourself changed since becoming a parent? What help do you need to reach those goals?

Since being a parent, I have learned so much about myself so I feel like I can focus on things that are more compatible with my personality. Making more money is more important now also because we have kids.

10. How has feminism failed mothers / fathers (if you think it has)? Personally, what do you think feminism has given mothers / fathers? What could it give?

The extremists have caused some people to prejudge all feminists as being chauvinistic. That is the only failure I can see, but I also see lots more work to be done. Specifically, more value should be put on a mother's role so that we are not expected to take on other roles outside of the home if we want to focus on raising our children. In my opinion, true feminists should value women in whatever role they choose to take in life; whether we follow a more stereotypical one or not...just as we should for men.