One professional woman's guide to keeping sexism from slowing her down

This was the written culmination of an idea that had been bouncing around in my head for some time now.  Why is it that when you think of a feminist you think of an angry, jaded, obstructionist complainer?  That isn’t what feminism is about!  It’s about having more choices and freedom.  The world has changed and it is time for the perception of feminism to change also.

Sexism is a persistent thread in the fabric of our culture.  It’s impossible to pick out on it’s own, but affects the color of the piece as a whole.  Feminism is about recognizing that and bringing it into focus…

A word on Casual Sexism

First off, what it is.  Casual Sexism is the unintentional sexism that results from assumptions about what people should be doing.  Men should build things and women be in the kitchen… except the not so obvious stuff.  Rebecca Thorman of Modite describes is as an undercurrent that just doesn’t feel right.

Casual Sexism should be pointed out somewhere, but realize if you do it too much at work it will hurt your career.  How much is too much?  Depends on if you do it in the context of humor or if you’re the constant downer interrupting the flow of things.  Rarely do we get those times when someone honestly asks what you think – even then you need to test the water.  If their eyes glaze over let it go girlie.

I like to call the people who point out sexism the feminist watchdogs.  So next time you see or hear a humorless comment to a sexist joke remember the sexism is serious business. …and remember you don’t have to be a watchdog to be a feminist.

So, here I am starting a feminist blog with wildly ambitious notions and also very little knowledge of feminism’s history.  Could I be the Mark Bitman or Michael Polan of the Feminist movement?  The force that moved it to a moderate place where women and men everywhere felt they could jump on the bandwagon without compromising themselves in the professional world.  Perhaps I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here.  ;)