Feminism in the wild: When to speak up, and when to roll your eyes

It’s super easy to be a feminist on the internet. It goes like this:

See something objectionable in the news/Twitter/any other stop on the Information Super Highway
Determine if it is the work of trolls/bots/attention seekers/ebook promotors if not,
Write a clever blog, tweet angrily, Facebook rant, etc.
Done! Follow up with finding others who have written similar blogs/tweets/posts to validate feelings of victory.
In the wild, it’s not so straightforward. Like, what if the super drunk owner of a not-to-be-named restaurant stops by your table to chat, and after he has already proven difficult to shoo away, he launches into a anti-feminist rant? And he’s so super old? Is this the equivalent of an internet troll, who can be ignored because he just doesn’t matter or have any influence in the world at all? Or should you really just not let people say ignorant things in front of you ever, and take him to town?

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Know your story, then own it

I’ve been on a bit of a feminist streak lately. No, that’s not the right way to put it. Rather, I’ve recently more fully discovered my voice as a feminist, which has allowed me to better articulate feelings I’ve always had, as a result of navigating through the world as a woman who was raised without even the suggestion that my opportunities, talents, intelligence or place in the world were tied in any way to my gender.

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