On this 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade I abandoned my original research into the origin of male-to-female courtesies that some of us find unnecessary, baffling, and silly. Lord Chesterfield, an influential 18th century Brit, found them necessary because they were " . . . the only protection women had against a man's superior strength." In other words, without social restraints the bigger guy would walk all over the littler ones (women).
Feminisms is a series of weekly feminist diaries. My fellow feminists and I decided to start our own for several purposes: we wanted a place to chat with each other, we felt it was important to both share our own stories and learn from others’, and we hoped to introduce to the community a better understanding of what feminism is about.
Needless to say, we expect disagreements to arise. We have all had different experiences in life, so while we share the same labels, we don’t necessarily share the same definitions. Hopefully, we can all be patient and civil with each other, and remember that, ultimately, we’re all on the same side.