Continuing the Feminist Rant

Since Leigh already began the feminist posts, I decided to just continue on with the same subject. Let’s be honest, there’s a lot to cover. A lot. At this rate, we may never veer away from feminism.

Maybe I should start off with defining what feminism is. There are still people today who have the misconception that feminism includes getting rid of males as a whole and ALLPOWER to women.  And yes, people still believe that. In eighth grade, I had an adult comment to me:  “Feminism? Are you sure that you know the true meaning behind it?” And then went on a little ‘explanation’ that feminism meant over powering males of society and having it women’s way. And guess what? At that time, I believed him. (And to this day it still pisses me off that I fell into that trap.)

That is not the definition of feminism. Feminism means to fight for the rights and equality of females, and those who identify with the female gender. No, it does not mean we want to round up all men and chop off their balls. Of course, extreme feminists might want that, but the average feminist today wants equality of the sexes– which is as pretty damn important as balls. (Well, that is debatable since you only need balls to procreate…)

Now, let me go on. I’m gonna tell you guys a little story that I experience at least almost every day at work:

I work at a farm stand that sells flowers and produce. Currently, there are a whopping six of us that work at this farm stand. On a weekend, there are four of us – the owner, me, my sister, and another girl. The owner is an elderly woman who really just works the register and isn’t there on the weekdays; I’m 17; my sister is 15, and the other girl is in her mid-20s. On any day, we have to help customers by getting planters or bags of mulch and bringing these items to their car. That or we’re restocking and rearranging produce.

Wet bags of mulch (or dirt) isn’t light. Boxes of peppers and bushels of corn (which carry 52 ears of corn) are heavier than you think. Guess who carries this stuff all of the time? Us girls.

Now, when any of the guy workers show up (which they do, multiple times a day because they bring us stuff from the farm), they do not let us carry these things. Let me repeat: do not let us carry these things. Reason being?

“It’s too heavy.”
“You’ll hurt yourself.”
“You shouldn’t be carrying that.”
Bullshitbullshitbullshit.

I’m not complaining that these things are heavy; working there, you get used to it. When I first started working there (a good three years ago), I had trouble lifting stuff. Now I can do it no problem because I built up muscle. I became stronger by moving things myself, when the guys weren’t around.

Even if a guy happened to work with me, I still wouldn’t let him do it. As Leigh said in the previous post, yes, technically girls are physically weaker than guys are. It’s just a fact, and there’s nothing we can really do about it at the moment. But just because something is ‘heavy’ does not mean that I can’t carry it.

The sad part about all of this is that the guys are really sincere. They don’t say these things because they think I can’t carry stuff, they just don’t want me to. They feel better about carrying it themselves. Which honestly, I get, but wouldn’t you want someone else to help to cut your work load in half?

Seriously. What do they think I do when they’re not there? Not lift it? And if it is too heavy, two of us pair up to do the job. We get it done, without the guys help. And let me tell you, we’re damn good at getting the job done.

I’ve even pointed it out to them: “I can carry this; I do it when you aren’t here!” And their best response is: “Well, I’m here now.” Honestly, just stop right there.

I love these guys, but I go through this every day. Because I don’t listen to them when they say “I shouldn’t” because I can.

This isn’t as heavy of a topic as Leigh’s post, but it’s just something I’ve wanted to write about. People need to realize that it isn’t only the big things that people are aware of; it’s the little things that also need to change.

Because if a female believes that she can, I promise you that she will. 

Yours Truly,

                                     Alison “Lost in Believing”