This seems like the place to tell this story, yeah. Let's go.

A few days ago I was talking with my roommate, a girl, about gender and dysphoria (she's trans) and feminism and such, and a realization hit home real hard: I'm in agreement with all of this stuff. I have no real reason to use the label of feminist, but I also have no need to fear it anymore. To worry about being considered as one. To hide behind the label of "eGaLiTaRiAn".

Being a feminist doesn't mean you have to call yourself one, but it's an easy way to find a community that you can either add to or grow from. Sometimes labels are lazy and in my case, I have no idea where I'd fit into any feminist discourse so it's not wholly useful to me anyway. I'm not going to go blast out what a "woke feminist ally" I am either because that's not useful to anyone and kinda deserves the derision it gets from both sides.

But. I feel this is a huge step forward for my personal development. I feel like by throwing off the weight of my hatred I've taken some power back from the mother who abused me and the weak, semi-absent father who not only didn't protect me but also victimized me. I don't feel like I need to overcompensate with masculinity just because I'm gay. There's also the empathy gainz, which are better than any gym membership can give you.

It's a better life. Quieter, simpler. I don't engage with all of that hatred anymore. I'm sure to call out anyone who's giving any crap to a woman just because of who she is, but disengaging from the rage engine was a huge boon to my life. That old Star Wars quote about what hatred leads into...well, whoever wrote that particular line in the script was a damn wise person. Hatred twists you, even if you think you're morally in the clear. It will turn you into someone your past self wouldn't recognize.

Well, that was a ramble. Thanks for reading. I'm excited to see where I go from here.