I am a Helen Reddy feminist.

Men and women are all in this together.

I had the temerity to advise women in a recent blog post.   I was called an "old white man talking his shit."

Click to go there.

This blog was critical of a sub-text in the MeToo announcements of the past three months.  Feminine power and equality should not express itself in after-the-fact complaints about past  bad behaviors endured by women, I wrote. It was female victimhood, finally getting payback.  

I said I liked a feminism of empowerment from the get-go.  I cited the NY Times comments by feminist author Bari Weiss who said that at least some of the time women are not helpless in the moment of their being subjected to bad behavior by men.  Speak clearly right then, she advised.   I agreed.

She wrote that women shouldn't think of themselves as helpless.  They should think of themselves as powerful.  Yes, I thought.  That's good feminism.

This was in my blog post of January 16, 2018.  Two days ago.  

I got pushback. "Easy for YOU to say, Peter," one woman said on Facebook.  

Another reader wrote saying I didn't understand women:

     "Kind of like reading a play written by a man trying to write dialogue for his women characters, stilted,clueless, out of touch, awkward, flat, emotionless, sounding just like,
     

     In other words men don’t walk in women’s shoes or know how to wear them. Nor do they have periods and deliver babies or have breasts that are desired and touched without permission. Nor do think that getting a job and holding it has something to do with their lips eye shadow or prominent bulge in their pants." 

I was not attempting to walk in Hillary's shoes nor channel the point of view of someone else nor in any way think like a woman.   My comments channel me, my own point of view as a citizen and voter.  I watched the debate.  I saw Trump being a bully.  I watched Hillary intimidated.  I felt angry with Trump, and I felt sorry for Hillary.

I did not want to feel sorry for the political leader of my country.  I wanted her to triumph, not endure.

Mine was not an "undecided vote"--I supported Hillary--but my observation at the time and on reflection was that this was a preview of future interactions between Hillary and other opponents.  I thought she looked weak in a conflict.  Senate Republicans will bully her.  Russia or China will bully her. 

Click Here: Helen Reddy, 1972. " I am woman!"

I wanted to see different, more exuberant kind of feminism--especially in a political leader.  I wanted a strong woman candidate who communicated confidence and power and joy.  

I wanted one who said that challenges made her stronger and that no one could keep her down.  One where Hillary demanded respect in the moment of conflict.  

I wanted Helen Reddy. I wanted the exuberant feminism of my youth.  It was a feminism of empowerment, not revenge for insults endured.  

Click the link.  Helen Reddy says it better than I can.  The song was not anti-men.  It was pro self-respect.  She roared.

"I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore. . . 

You can bend but never break me, 'cause it only serves to make me more determined to achieve my final goal.  

But I come back even stronger, not a novice any longer, 'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul.

If I have to I can do anything.  I am strong.  I am invincible.  I am woman. I am woman. I am invincible. I am strong.  I am woman. I am invincible. I am strong. I am woman."



I share an opinion on Feminism.  Feminism does not belong solely to women.  It belongs to all of us.  We are in this together.