Why I'm Not a Feminist
By Kristin, age 14, California
Sweet Designs Featured Writer
The world we live in today has made great strides for women's rights, and I'm happy about that. I think it's great that women are treated as equals, but I think that there are some serious flaws in what people now call feminism. What feminism was years ago was seeking out for the right to vote and be paid the same in the workplace, but today feminism is more something that women use to justify hating men and not raising their children. I may sound insane, but after growing up with a working mother, I know for a fact that I will never put my kids through that. I mean, honestly, if you had the option, would you have chosen to be raised by a nanny / day care center? Of course you wouldn't choose that.
I understand that single mothers have to work, but to be blunt and honest, I have no sympathy for a woman who has children she either can't support or else needs to neglect in order to put food on the table. There are so many forms of birth control today that it's very rare for someone to actually be able to call a pregnancy an accident. In my opinion, it's very simple - a child needs a parent, not a nanny or a day care center. My dad stayed home when I was young, and so I had a parent. I always felt safe and loved, having someone there to pick me up from school. I have memories from that time that I will always cherish. However, not only do I now have a very strained relationship with my mom, but she also missed out on those experiences with me. No child deserves to be void of those experiences and memories, and no mother should be willing to give up her chance to have those experiences with her child.
I would describe myself as a feminist in the context that I believe in women having equal rights, meaning that I believe in women having the choice to not get married or not have children, or to do whatever is it they want to do. I just disagree with the thought process of a woman making the choice to have children and also choosing to neglect them by tossing them in a day care center rather than raising them herself.
