That Takes Ovaries!

I was procrastinating on Facebook the other day when the phrase This Is What a Feminist Looks Like caught my eye.   A young womyn in the US had participated in her university’s feminist action campaign by posting a photo of herself on Facebook holding a sign reading “this is what a feminist looks like”.

Someone had stolen her photo and re-posted her picture as this:

When Facebook refused to take down the picture, stating that having her photo stolen did not violate her privacy rights, the womyn’s response was this:

And this: We Are What Feminists Look Like  - a tumblr asking folks to submit their pictures showing the multiple faces of feminism.

The consensus around the house is that this young womyn encompasses the meaning of courage.  Despite the meanness of the meme, she wasn’t stopped or silenced.  In fact, the meanness made her voice of resistance even louder.  She didn’t lash out, try to find the individual responsible for this piece of feminist and fat bashing and name them a bad person.  And she didn’t take down her photo, hide her face and allow the meanness to limit her response.  Instead, she continued to “dare to be fat and feminist in public”.  She was creative and clever.  She looked for the essence of the issue, misogynist fat bashing, and then she invited the rest of the world to join her in responding with “kick ass feminist activism”.  Check out the tumblr…it’s filling up.  I’m in awe.

I could say that this Wonder Womyn has balls, but that would be a disservice to her internal strength and power.  She’s got ovaries.  Contrary to popular mythology, strength and power aren’t demonstrated by “balls” (the two most sensitive pieces of body hanging between the two largest muscles).  Strength takes ovaries - an internal commitment to nurturing a better future, regardless of the meanness of today.  Power takes ovaries - the dedication to work for that better future despite the insults and threats of the external world.

So what does a feminist look like?
Like strength.
Like power.
Like her.