I wrote this essay a year ago though I can’t imagine why it felt scary. I definitely wasn’t scared of “the F word” when I was in high school in the 80’s though I also hadn’t experienced a certain backlash as a woman at that point. It’s an endless debate, especially recently when the word “feminism” pops up everywhere from cool starlet profiles to shopping websites and pop star revelations, all with a politely implied undertone to the conversations. This year there has actually been a lot of discussion in the cultural feed about the more pressing women’s issues of education for girls, rape, domestic violence and every day harassment and abuse. None of which seems to have done any good given the horrific health care ruling, which came down yesterday. The pop culture debate seems to make the real problems a little more approachable. For who and why? That’s a whole other debate.
