What feminism means to me
Welcome to the first blog of our series, ‘What feminism means to me’. We will be inviting a range of contributors to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences on this topic. A feminist ethos sits at the heart of our research and the ways that we work within our team and with our collaborators and participants. Using our blog to explore this question is one way that we are hoping to contribute to feminist narratives.
Our first contributor is Leo Conolly..
I am a Year 10 student. I often think deeply about social issues and why the world is the way it is. I am a boy who lives alone with my mum and my two brothers, but I have always had girls as friends who I spend lots of time with. Growing up I have considered myself to be a role model for my two brothers. Because of this I am careful of how I behave because I want them to behave in a similar manner. I now go to a boys’ school, and this has made it even more important to me that women are treated respectfully. I think the world needs to be fairer, with the government putting laws into place to help women achieve equality. For example, lots of women, like my mum, are carers. I know my mum had to give up work for a long time because of this and her life can sometimes be difficult. I think feminism is really useful because it helps people to think about the issues that might overly affect women, and it can help us to think about how to make things better.
Last year, in History I learnt about the suffragettes and the actions of women such as Emily Davidson at the Epsom Derby. Through direct action the suffragettes were able to raise awareness of the issues they believed in so strongly which eventually led to women being given the vote. For me this shows the powerful effect that thinking about issues, then acting, can have. Having a more equal society, with equality between men and women will benefit everyone in the country. For example, making sure women get equal pay would make everyone richer! I know that feminism is about creating a fairer world for all, and I think everyone should be happy to get involved with that.
By Leo Conolly. September 2024.
If you would like to write for us about your thoughts on feminism, you can get in touch here: info@nursesuicidestudy.com