Feminist

I am a feminist.

It seems somewhat weird to me, being a feminist. I mean, I'm a man, not a woman. Heck, I'm gay man at that, so it's not like I'm really even attracted me to women. But I am a feminist. It took some education on my part to get to this place. Specifically, it took the Boundaries of Syracuse seminar I took in graduate school.

Boundaries of Syracuse was advertised to me as a joint seminar between architecture and geography. However, when I got to the class, I realized that it was also a women's studies course. On the first day of class both teachers said they were feminists and this would be a feminist seminar. I was nervous.

Turns out, the class was incredible. Not only did we look at physical boundaries (like the Interstate running through the center of the city), but we also looked at subtle boundaries. Where were the masculine spaces, where were the feminine spaces? What about the children spaces and the adolescent spaces? The heteronormative spaces and the queer spaces? It was really eye-opening.

Taking this seminar I also learned that feminism is very anti-corporation, and anti-consumerism. It is pro-self-reliance. It is pro-cooperative living and holistic thinking. It is about building bonds of community, and looking at relationships and livelihoods as things that cannot have a price. All awesome stuff, and things I am very much into. And I am still friends with people from that seminar to this day!

I am definitely a feminist.