Femo-what?

At 18 I attended a youth camp called Summit Ministries in Colorado. At this 2 week Conservaitive training camp I was being trained on how to be a Conservative leader. There were a plethora of speakers including Dr. Ron Nash, Mark Cahill, Dr. David Noebel, Dr. Francis J. Beckwith and more. At this camp we were taught many things, basically all of the "hot button" Conservative issues. There was a lot of emphasis on The United States' founding fathers. We were taught that this was a "Christian Nation" that has strayed from it's "godly roots". I enjoyed attending the camp because I loved meeting new people and it was nice feeling like I belonged to a "club". I didn't care if things sounded intolerant or cruel. Lessons were explained to me in a way that seemed enticing and and rebellious against "mainstream left propaganda". I love feeling like I am going against the "norm". My favorite speaker was Dr. Noebel. He was funny and cleaver. My fellow classmates and I would jot down his silly quotes and repeat them later at lunch or free time. Our preferred quote was "Put that in your pipe and smoke it". At one of our classes he was speaking on Feminism. He broke down feminism like this.
Feminism:
1.) Femo-Nazis = There are actually only 29 of them and they believe there are not enough abortions.
2.) Femo-Noids = We put one man on the moon, let's put them all there.
3.) Femo-Nists = All women are victims to men and their Christ is "Christa".

During those two weeks we were in classes for about 5 hours each day. At not one of these daily lessons were we given a definition of Feminism or Feminist. The Webster Dictionary defines Feminism as 1: The theory of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. 2: Organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests.
One of the speakers, Dr. Nash, had this to say about Feminists: "Feminist theology contends that the historic Christian faith must be repudiated as a haven for patriarchal sexism that oppresses women even as "capitalism" according to the Marxist view oppresses the poor." -Nash pg 50 "Is Jesus the Only Savior." Dr. Nash also describes feminists this way; "feminists are actually angry at God/nature for creating them female. They believe that menstruation, child raising, birthing and pregnancy are shackles that they need to be liberated from. Birth control and abortions are their only liberation."

If you are unaware, I am a feminist and I am learning what it means to truly be a feminist. This is a very new concept for me. Growing up in a Conservative Christian family, I was never taught anything positive about Feminists or Feminism. It was simply the other "F" word. Women were to remain quiet and submissive. They would act foolish and had little to no control over emotions. Now that I am learning more about women, I feel empowered! Women empowerment was looked down upon in my upbringing. I am learning to recognize things in my life that are demeaning to women as will as misogynistic. I would encourage you to take a look back at your past and remember the lessons taught to you about women and gender roles as well as expectations for women and girls. The subjects are practically endless. I will touch on as many topics as I can in later posts. Today, I wanted to share with you this post I found online about the Twilight books. For the record, I am not a fan of the story or movies (of course, for reasons that aren't valid to this post :))
It was from a website that promotes "traditional gender roles in men and women". This was written by a Christian woman as praise to the characters portrayed in the Twilight series. "the [Twilight] saga portrays “traditional” roles for male and female at a time when it is highly counter-cultural to do so. Bella isn’t a male-kicking, karate-chopping, independent, domineering heroine. She’s gentle, soft, and vulnerable. Her character flies in the face of the tough-girl image that’s portrayed by most contemporary movies. I think young girls intuitively know that the prevalent portrayal of women as tough doesn't match who they are. The average teen senses that she’s not wired that way. She longs to be the princess in a traditional fairy tale romance. She wants to be a woman. And she wants a man to be a man. A young woman intuitively yearns for someone who will pursue her, protect her, and cherish her beauty and vulnerability. She yearns for a man to love her at a deep personal and emotional level—and not just a physical, sexual one. Regardless of culture's attempts at egalitarian brainwashing, the man of her dreams is still a strong, handsome prince charming who fights for her, and rescues her. He loves her, commits to her, and selflessly sets aside personal interest for the sake of her best interest." Mary Kassian (emphasis added).
These are the gender roles that I will later go into as much detail as I can to expose the ways in which they are unnecessary to a healthy life and relationships. I beg you to think for yourself: Where is the proof that women need a man to pursue her? Does a women need to have a man in her life to feel complete fulfillment? What is man rescuing women from?

Help me break these stereotypes!

somewhat entertaining website: "Feminism is Evil!"
Twilight Article
Dr. Nash speaking on Abortion and Feminism