Daily Kos

View Story | 82 comments

  •  How else can I say this? (none / 1)

    An example, I guess:  I'm small, as a lot of females are.  I work with my husband, who is a bit bigger and stronger than me.  Our job requires us to carry a lot of stuff sometimes, and there are many times that someone will see things piled up in my arms and offer to help.  (They don't do that to my husband, I presume because he's male and therefore supposedly better able to perform the job on his own.)  But I refuse; I know what my own limits are.  Just because I may look overwhelmed doesn't mean I am, because I know how to handle myself.  

    Maybe this isn't the best example, but I empower myself by proving to myself that I can do this even if everyone else thinks I can't.  Hopefully, this shatters a little of that "women are no good at physical work" myth in other's minds too.

    Does that make more sense?

    "You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor." -Bob Dylan

    by tryptamine on Mon Feb 21, 2005 at 05:39:53 AM PDT

    [ Parent ]

    •  Frankly (none / 0)

      No.  You seem to want to rule out political action on the issue - hence, "try harder" seems to be your only alternative.  I disagree.

      Everybody dies alone.

      by Armando on Mon Feb 21, 2005 at 11:35:23 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  Uh, ok... (none / 0)

        He asked what empowerment was about.  I told him what it means to me personally, and went out of my way to demonstrate that this is my personal definition of empowerment, because I consider empowerment to be a personal thing.  Am I not allowed to have my own definitions?

        "You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor." -Bob Dylan

        by tryptamine on Mon Feb 21, 2005 at 02:43:22 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        •  Then I misunderstood (none / 0)

          I thought you were talking about what to do about sexism. My apologies. I'm glad you don't disagree with political action to fight sexism.  Sorry about the mistake.

          Everybody dies alone.

          by Armando on Mon Feb 21, 2005 at 02:48:46 PM PDT

          [ Parent ]

          •  Heh. (4.00 / 2)

            I figured it was a misunderstanding.

            Of course I support political action against sexism!  But I'm an impatient woman, and in the meantime, I do what I can on my own.

            "You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor." -Bob Dylan

            by tryptamine on Mon Feb 21, 2005 at 03:12:36 PM PDT

            [ Parent ]

View Story | 82 comments