Something to Think About

My boyfriend and I have a good relationship. He respects me, and I do likewise, and we're both happy. But something very interesting happened today.

We had been making breakfast/lunch together, and as he was sitting down to eat, he said something (I cannot remember what) that made me reply with "Well that's because I'm feminist" or something along those lines. I was surprised when he looked at me and said "No. No you're not."

"Why not? Because I'm not a lesbian?" I replied, "How do you know I'm not? Because I like you?" I was clearly ready to get into an argument, but he blatantly refused to talk about it. I told him, at some point during our brief conversation, that guys can be feminists too, but he didn't seem to believe that, either. So I asked him what he thought feminism was, and he admitted that he didn't know the "technical definition."

He had no answers for my questions, but he was dead set in believing that I would not and could not be a feminist. He had to leave for class before I could talk him through feminism and what it meant for me, but I know I'll be bringing it up with him in the near future, as soon as an opportunity presents itself.

It's just really interesting that he doesn't even really know what feminism is, or what being a feminist means, and yet he's so afraid of it. He's a good guy, don't get me wrong, I just think it will be good for him to understand it, as it would be for anyone who doesn't have a grasp of it already.

I'm glad he and I had that little conversation though, because it helped me get a better grasp on my inner feminist.