Weekly Journal 26

A belief you have or used to have:

     When I was a younger, about four or five years ago, I used to believe that there wasn't sexism in the world. I was blind, of course, because when you are born in a patriarchal society, it is difficult to realize it.
      I used to believe that women had the same rights as men. Also, I judged women who wanted to show more skin and women who felt free to speak up. I competed with my own friends in a lot of senses and I felt obligated to be pretty. At school, a girl who had a boyfriend and male friends at the same time was a whore, and a girl who still didn't have her first kiss was a prude.
    When feminism rose, TV and social media showed it as something bad, "feminists are those women who get naked in front of buildings protesting against God knows what". I didn't want to be a feminist because society taught me that it was something to be ashamed of, and "feminazis" was a term I used to hear everywhere and still do.
     However, in 2017, luckily, I started to become interested in feminism, I didn't want to believe what others told me about it, I wanted to create my own opinion after research. Honestly, I was tired of competing, of feeling oppressed, of being laughed at by my male schoolmates because once, I wanted to wear a pretty neckline or a skirt.
     As my female friends and I started to become informed about feminism, we realized it was the only hope women have to survive in our society. During school breaks, we would debate and consider different opinions as well as learn; we learned a lot.
     Now, my friends and I are feminists with pride, we feel freer than before, but still oppressed and we are going to fight against the patriarchy that wants us dead and not becoming who we really want to be.