Feminism?

    Whenever I hear the word "Feminism" I cringe. I've always thought of a feminist as a bra-burning, men-hating woman, and I never could identify with that. Since I couldn't understand this I always steered away from anything having to do with feminism. After I read the chapter in Gendered Lives that discussed feminism I realized it isn't as radical as I thought it was. I also learned that there have been different waves of feminism and different ideas of what it can mean.
    The type I most connected with was Liberal Feminism, this is where they believed that women should have equality in all aspects of life. This seems like such a basic concept to me.  I agree that women should enjoy the equal rights. One thing that worries me about feminism is that while we focusing having equal rights about positive things we forget that if we want equal rights that also comes with negative things like the right to fail. Just because you have equal rights doesn't you will always be successful at what you do. Let's say a man and woman apply for the same job, and while a women has an equal right to that job she also has a equal right to not get that job based on qualifications. The job should be given to the most qualified candidate because that is true equality, and I think that's often ignored.
     I know that feminist movements have impacted my life though, because without them I probably wouldn't be in college.I also wouldn't have all the options for my future that I have now. I've been raised to believe that with hard work anything is possible. I've never considered my gender when I thought about what I wanted in my future.
    After reading about feminism I think it will make me be more thankful.. It made me more grateful for the women before me who stood up for my rights, and I'll be more appreciative of the opportunities in my life.  Also I won't have such a negative view of people who describe themselves as "feminists". I also will start trying to be more aware of women's issues that are going on around me.