For example, my students. I look forward to being able to teach about equality and diversity - something which is easier for me, as an English teacher, than for some other subjects. But then, when it comes to it, I find myself justifying the label 'feminist' to get away from the stereotypes that teens seem to have in mind. I have been encouraged by the occasional response of 'but that's not anything -ism, that's normal', but for the most part, somebody in the room is always waiting for me to betray those man-hating instincts.
I've encountered others with odd (to me!) views too. My postgrad studies included a Women's Studies element and I was surprised to find that some felt I didn't belong there - because I was (and still am!) married. More recently, we've seen surprise in others as hubby stays at home full time with the kids and has done for almost 7 years now. Whether it's fascination (does he do... washing, cleaning, school run etc etc) or pity (oh, can't he get a job), people react - which they probably wouldn't do so much if I did the house+kids thing while he worked.
Overall though, I still consider myself a feminist because we still have so far to go. Obviously there are parts of the world which have a shocking record for women's rights, but even here in the enlightened West, there remain many inequalities, not the least of which is attitude.
A great resource for exploring women's rights around the world is this Atlas of Women in the World, which graphically represents a range of relevant figures. It's been a real eye-opener in my classes, as students discover statistics relating to literacy, marital rape and access to contraception.
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