Love, Joy, Feminism

Last week I discovered a delightful and intelligent blog by a very brilliant, liberated woman Libby Anne: Love, Joy, Feminism.

Libby Anne describes her experience as from a happy Quiverfull home (isn't that an oxymoron?!), dedicated to her beliefs, but woefully unprepared for the diversity and critical thinking she began to discover in college. She is one of the lucky ones, but had to fight to get where she is.

Her story, and others like it, touch me deeply. I really feel for these women, and I am filled with hate at the patriarchal beliefs that rob young women of their potential. I relate very closely to many parts of her story... like her, I was completely well trained and thought I had all the answers; I didn't start to unravel until college. For me, and I think Libby Anne too, a large part of that was simply exposure to People Different From Us--gays, liberals, atheists, people with tattoos, people who have sex, etc.--that opened our eyes to seeing that all those Others are real people, and usually good people. Naiveté and brainwashing are unbelievably powerful things! The real world, critical thinking and scientific evidence tend to shoot holes in religious extremism pretty quickly, thankfully.

I encourage you to read her blog. Learn from it, and share!

--BadSec