Why I should be Proud as a woman (and feminist)?

It's March 2022. And of course, it's Women's History Month. On the 8th, it was International Women's Day. We celebrate to all women including our mentors, our heroes, our favorite actresses, and our favorite authors. For me, Growing up as a little girl to a grown woman has not been very easy. I mean never, ever been easy. It's the same thing to other women who felt the same way during their lifetime, including our health(physically, verbally, emotionally, socially, and sexually).

Why?

It’s very complicated, frustrating and unfair.

You may know the reasons why it's because of the society that has been restricted and controlled by men for decades and even centuries. Yes, it's always unfair to us. As a young woman, I'm also a feminist, it may not be perfect. It's not because I hate men at all. I don't like the way how in a society that were still being controlled or being forced by men including our own bodies. I also don't like when others were being denied by all of those phrases like “boys don't cry”, “stop being a weak/dramatic/p***’, “boys will be boys” (the worst phrases ever), “...because she's a woman”, “women should never compete over men”, “wives must obey their husbands”, and so on. We just want to be equal just like all women want and want to be treated that we are humans! We are not sex objects and we are not Men’s hosts! I wish men need it to stop that, especially for the serious but dangerously consequences.

It also includes our reproductive rights! Our health care, our bodies, and our health awarenesses (that includes breast cancer, premenstrual disorder, miscarriage, abortion, menopause, and endometriosis)!

It’s very important for me how to embrace and empower ourselves(myself included) for our gender and our identities from all negative stereotypes, patriarchy, sexism, and misogynism especially shame, silenced, deluded, and dismissed for decades(content warning).

You also may be familiar With similar issues about a piece I wrote about Christine, role of Alison Lohman, from “Drag Me To Hell”. That includes how we have been through like if we're worthy enough and beloved (in work, movies, magazines, & school) that we have to be beautiful, thin, and flawlessly perfect because of that collective culture/pain we grew up with- just like Katie Gray shared with me and other people from her online course and also her book.

When I was a baby, I couldn't be happier in this world. I was the first daughter, but a second child of the family. Also when my parents, doctors, nurses, and even my relatives, came up to me like- “oh my gosh.” “Oh my goodness.” “She's so beautiful.” “aww look at her.” “hi, honey.” “How's our little girl doing?”

During that, what's interesting is that I wore some cute baby/toddler clothes that were gender-neutral from my brother’s. And yes, I wore lots of very adorable baby girl clothes with cute barrettes, hair clips, and bows. I also played with some of my brother's toys which include power rangers, aliens, dinosaurs, racing cars(Hot Wheels), action figures(G.I. JOE), green army men, Nintendo games, robots, trucks, and ninja turtles(T.M.N.T.) Along with Barbie dolls, My Little Ponies, and many cutest toys from the 80s and 90s. Of course I love fairy tales, playing dolls, tea parties, and dressed ups. Same thing when my sister was born. Now, all three of us can play whatever we want including video games from Nintendo and SEGA. On the other hand , my sister, our old friends, and I are still enjoying ourselves from tea parties, dressing ups, and playing more dolls from our imaginations.

I still enjoy wearing some gender-neutral outfits. I still love to wear that it's any whimsy, artsy but nerdy casual, vintage-inspired look, and feminine. It fits my personality, perfectly.

During my youth, I learned that and saw so many female characters/heroines from different shows who can do anything or do something more than just princesses from Disney. It shows like Storm, Rogue, Jean Grey, and Jubilee from X MEN the animated series; Xena The Warrior Princess; Wonder Woman from Super Friends; Thunder Girl from Action Leauge Now!; Sailor Moon, Iczer One, Dana from The X-Files; PowerPuff Girls; and Kimberly, Trini, and Aisha from Power Rangers.

In September 2008, my dad and I went on our first trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the special conference, called SchoolGirls and MobleSuits/SGMs, at their official art and design college for one of my incredible mentors and one of my favorite voice actors, Crispin Freeman’s Mythology Presentation about female warriors vs princesses. I was super excited! I couldn't agree more how the female Characters can do something more like warriors, knights, superheroes, soldiers, (that includes Sailor Moon, DC/Marvel heroes, Tezuka's Princess Knight, Revolutionary Girl Utena) than just a princess, a maid, or a damsel in distress. From dependence to independence(princess) or independence to dependence(magical girl soldier). During the presentation, I felt reconnected with Disney after the divorce like how I adored them. But, I felt lost by disconnected the things I love from childhood.

Also year's later, there's more stronger, feminist female characters from Disney including from Zootopia, Moana, Pixar’s Brave, and Raya.

In 2015, I was at AkaiCon from Nashville, TN with my dad. I was looking forward to see Matt Mercer and Marisha Ray again. On Sunday, I also looking forward to something that inspired me-I went to see Marisha Ray”s panel called ‘Feminism in a Geek World’. Marisha shared with us and discussed that we should never to be ashamed of ourselves for “being a nerd”, sharing our gender stigma/gender restrictive, insecurities of our body issues from sexism and misogyny, growing up as a girl as being a geek, and toxic fandom against female characters and actresses by mostly male fans. You may also be familiar that I wrote about some inspired moments of Critical Role(Part One) including I had similar experiences like Marisha’s as well.

Listen!

Women can be nerds!

Women can be artists!

Women can play sports!

Women can be the doctors!

Women can be the scientists!

Women can be archers!

Women can be soldiers!

Women can be professors!

Women can be heroes!

Women can be the Captains!

Women can be coaches!

Women can be the Directors!

Women can be the managers!

Women can be engineers!

Women can be the explorers!

Since it's still Women's History Month, I want to say that I am incredibly thankful to all women, including my mother, my aunts, my role models, my favorite artists, and my best teachers/mentors/coaches, for showing and sharing with me their strength, wisdom, empowerment, paitence, righteousness, creativity, compassion, freedom, uniqueness, adventurousness, bravery, and integrity.

My recommendations for the books and films/series-

• ‘Women in Science” by Rachel Ignotofsky
• ‘Women in Art” by Rachel Ignotofsky
• ‘Nausicaa-Valley of the Wind”(manga/film) by Hayao Miyazaki
• ‘Princess Knight’ by Osamu Tezuka
• ‘Bossy Pants” by Tina Fey
• ‘Sailor Moon”(manga/series)
• Mulan(1998 Disney)
• Moana(2016 Disney)
• Buffy the Vampire slayer
• “Geek Girls Don't Cry’ by Andrea Towers & Marisha Ray
• Xena the Warrior Princess
• Brave(2012 Pixar)
• Captain Marvel(2019)
• SheRa (Netflix series)
• The Legend of Vox Machina(2022)
• “You're Never Weird on the Internet(Almost)”by Felicia Day
• ‘It's Your Universe: You Have the Power to Make It Happen’ by Ashley Eckstein and Stacy Kravetz
  

My Playlist of Womens Rights/Empowered Women/Proud Feminist-

• ‘Born this Way’- Lady Gaga
• ‘Confident’- Demi Lovato
• ‘Just A Girl’- No Doubt
• ‘Express Yourself’ - Madonna
• ‘Man! I feel like a Woman!’- Shania Twain
• ‘Girl on Fire’ - Alicia Keys
• ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’- Cyndi Lauper
• ‘I Am Woman’- Helen Reddy
• ‘I‘m Every Woman’- Chaka Khan
• ‘Piece of My Heart’- Janis Joplin
• ‘The Future is Female’- Madame Gandhi
• ‘These Boots Are Made for Walk-in‘- Nancy Sinatra
• ‘Running up the Hill’ - Kate Bush
• ‘Edge of Seventeen’- Stevie Nicks
• ‘Midnight Sky”- Miley Cyrus
• ‘9 to 5 ‘- Dolly Parton
• ‘Cry Baby’ - Janis Joplin
• ‘Shake it Out’- Florence + The Machine
• How Far I’ll go- Auli’i Cravalho(Moana)
• ‘Speechless’- Naomi Scott(Aladdin)
• ‘Roar’- Katy Perry
• ‘Here’- Alessia Caira
• ‘I AM WOMAN ‘-Emmy Meli
• ‘Fireworks” -KatyPerry
• ‘Who You Are”- Jessie J
• ‘Beautiful People Beautiful Problems”- Lana Del Rey & Stevie Nicks

Resources/References:

• Ignotosfky, Rachel. (2019). “Women in Art: 50 Fearless Creatives Who Inspired The World”. ‘Conclusion’. page 119. Ten Speed Press. Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
• Ignotosfky, Rachel. (2019). “Women in Art:50 Fearless Creatives Who Inspired The World”. ‘Introduction’. page 6-7. Ten Speed Press. Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
• Ignotosfky, Rachel. (2016). “Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed The World”. ‘Introduction.’ page 6-7. Ten Speed Press. Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
• Ignotosfky, Rachel. (2016). “Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed The World”. Conclusion. page 117. Ten Speed Press. Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
• Gray, Katie.(2021). “Journey of the Empowered Heart”. ‘Release.’ page 273-275. Katie Gray.