Transatlantic Blonde has a Friday Feminist Roundup Theme (here) calling for ruminations from “feminist moms” on “The Power of Words” (however you interpret it).
The first thing that the prompt brought to mind was a “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” t-shirt that I bought at a law school fundraiser. The shirts were being sold by the Women’s Association of Law Students at the school where I teach. I bought one for my then pre-school aged daughter. She loved it because it was black with bright pink letters, and people would say to her, “Nice t-shirt,” the few times she wore it.
She only wore it a few times because I — who bought the shirt — decided that it was not a comfortable parenting decision to put a “message” t-shirt on a child, even though the message was one with which both my husband and I felt comfortable. Yes, I explained to my daughter what “feminist” was (in appropriate-to-four-year-old terms: those who want men and women to have the same opportunities) before she wore the shirt, but it still didn’t seem right.
Around this time, I had a neighbor who dressed her pre-schooler in t-shirts that read, “Free Martha” [Stewart].
-Bridget Crawford
I took my older child to the March for Women’s Lives many years ago in
Washington. I have a wonderful photo of her holding a “Keep Abortion
Legal” placard. Last year she turned to me after looking at the
picture and said “What’s abor-ation?” An frank conversation
followed…
On a lighter note, she also had a t-shirt when she was a toddler that
said “Already a Feminist.” She saved it for several years. When we
thought she lost it in a move, she cried. She found it and now has
saved it in her time capsule.
She is considering passing down her “Students for Choice” shirt to her sister–
and my older child fully understands what that shirt means.