Feminism (?)

 Today, the 14th of june, is the 30th anniversary of the first women's strike in Switzerland. Earlier this year as well, there was an upsurge of news and debates surrounding the 50th anniversary of women's right to vote (7 February 1971). Yes, that's very late compared to most countries. (in Canada, just to remind you, it was in 1918 - although I just read that excluded women of Asian descent, who weren't granted their rights until 1948).

For a long time I hadn’t thought at all about ‘being a feminist’. It didn’t seem like a label that fit me. Of course I believe in equal rights for everyone regardless of race, gender, orientation, etc. But to me, singling out women as a ‘minority’ (not in terms of numbers but in terms of society) was a sign of weakness. Women are in every respect the equals of men, and if everyone is equal, groups and labels become irrelevant.

I was raised as an individualist. I was taught to search out my own values without wondering about how those values might make me belong to a group. That led me to believe that my life experience is unique and singular and not linked to anyone else's. But I realise now that individualism is isolating. It discourages political action; it leads to a form of egoism where I think that as long as I'm not the victim of discrimination, it doesn't concern me.

But it does concern me. It concerns everyone. It's too easy to find differences with others- the harder task is to find a common ground. And 'being a woman' happens to be a big enough ground that a lot of the population (roughly half, in fact) can find a place to stand together. On the 14th of june 2019, I walked in the streets of Lausanne with around 40 000 other women. Yes, we are all individuals, and none of us have had precisely the same experience. But somehow, we are linked. And I think that recognition of something shared is a key ingredient for empathy. If I can look someone - anyone- in the eye and realize not what makes me different from them, but how we are similar, then my actions will come from this place of understanding.

So I wasn't feminist before, but I am now. I want to discover what part of my own experience I can share with others, and how I can listen to stories very different from mine. I want to find the common ground to stand on.