Me, Myself, and I

There are several terms that come to mind when I think of how I define myself as a person: activist, woman, and believer. Yes, I could label myself as a teenager, a vegetarian, or an atheist, but they only describe what I am, not what I believe in. These labels, in their own right, are both more complex and simpler than they would appear.

The most defining of these labels is my identity as a woman, which impacts my life on a daily basis. Being a woman may only mean that I do not have a penis and that, yes, I bleed, but it is also so much more than that. Being a woman means that I have seen and can identify with the oppression that women around the world face by dint of being women. Being a woman means that I have to deal with the conception that women are weaker physically and mentally. Being a woman means that, historically, I must do things twice as well to be considered half as good as a man. There is nothing more empowering or limiting than identifying yourself as a woman. In accepting the label of femininity, I have accepted the challenges that my gender faces in the search for equality in today’s society. In the past, women were almost universally perceived as being the weaker of the two genders, which led to the assertion of “male dominance.” These conventional stereotypes make it difficult to identify as a woman in that they project the historical view of the female and do not celebrate the individual strengths and weaknesses that each woman possesses.

Another label with which I strongly identify with is that of an activist. Activism is more than just believing in something or being a member of PETA. Activism is standing up for what you believe in, no matter the consequences. Call me a hippie, a radical, a freak. Names won’t stop me from standing up for something worthwhile. I am a member of many organizations, including Greenpeace, PETA, All .Girl Army, and NOW, and the activist in me drives me to do more than just pay membership fees. The activist inside me drives me to rallies, to peace marches, to protests. It is compelling me to drive my beat up little car to the Martin Luther King rally in Dayton on Monday. Activism is a driving force in my life, and I never want to give that up. Being an activist also encompasses my identity as a feminist, which is another central role I play in my life. Feminism brings to mind the terms “ball buster,” “lesbian,” and “bitch,” doesn’t it? Feminism brings those terms to mind because they are ways that society sees feminism, when in reality feminists are as varied as paint colors. You don’t have to be a lesbian to be a feminist any more than you have to have been born in Rome to be a Roman Catholic. In being a feminist, I am standing up for what I believe in. I am not saying that men are evil or that women are better than men. I am a feminist because I believe in equality. I am an activist and a feminist because I believe that there are some things worth fighting for.

I do not believe in God, the devil, Yahweh, Allah, or the dichotomy of good versus evil. I do not believe in fortune, fate, the Great Goddess, or heaven. I do not believe in love at first sight or that everything happens for a reason. I do not believe in divine intervention or a great plan. I believe in dragonflies, smiling, and making love. I believe in laughing, speaking, and peace. I believe in taking risks, teaching others, and expressing what I feel. I believe in losing myself in a book, in someone’s eyes, in someone’s voice. I believe in science and coincidence. I believe that if you call the wrong number, you should talk, because you might like them more than who you meant to dial. I do not believe in nothing, nor do I believe in everything. I consider myself a believer because I believe very strongly about the things I DO believe in. Belief is an integral part of a person’s life, no matter what that person’s beliefs are. You can “believe” that we are all put on this earth for a reason, but what makes you a believer is the passion with which you embrace that principle. I call myself a believer because I believe in what I believe in with a passion that makes everything else insignificant.