BY MIA FREEDMAN I’ve written a number of times about my mother and the way I was raised to be a feminist without even realising it. I feel like I have to justify that word and say “No wait! Don’t go! Keep reading! This isn’t boring!” because it’s not.
Instead of writing about it more, I decided to bring back an old Mamamia tradition and sit down on the floor with my Mum this week and interview her for International Women’s Day. She was absolutely terrified and it took much coaxing. She is very shy and not a fan of the limelight (unlike her show-off daughter).
When I called her yesterday to tell her how great the video turned out and how much the Mamamia team loved it, she said she’d been expecting me to call and say the camera hadn’t recorded properly and the post wasn’t going ahead – a way to spare her feelings because she was so sure it would have been too terrible to use on Mamamia. Not quite. Take a look and leave a comment about your own mum, the women who’ve helped define you as a woman or any aspect of what we discuss…..
1. “I wanted my father’s life not my mother’s”
2. The insane situation with contraception, marriage and divorce in the 60s
3. Why Germaine Greer was SOOOO important.
4. So what was with the hairy armpits?
5. What’s a feminist anyway?
6. How to raise little girls to be strong women.
Who were the major influences on your identity as a woman growing up? And what did they teach you? Do you describe yourself as a feminist? What does the word even mean to you?
Top Comments
What is it vintage erotica? And why all this it is possible to look free of charge?
Thank you so much Mia and Kathy!
Four decades on from Kathy's initiation into Feminism and struggles within a society that protected firstly the interests of men in all domains, I feel I am living a parallel life. Not fortunate enough to have had a mother that lead by a good and strong example for her 2 daughters; women and mothers in training, growing up I embraced my own ideas and beliefs on Feminism, who I was and wanted to be and of course the type of man of wanted to share my life with. After also having a child at 18years, I put myself through university as a single mum and am a qualified Psychologist. And here's the twist. After establishing myself as an independent women able to take care of my own finances, purchase a property, travel the world and raise a son who cooks, cleans and is lovely to his partner, I landed myself in a marriage with a man not unlike my father, just a more passive version, but still a patriarch who thinks not much of women and hence 2 more children later and I getting divorced! Full circle!
I am shocked, surprised and angry with no-one else but myself. I know I obviously have a few more lessons to learn and now need to embrace my situation and go forth with dignity and kindness to myself and others and after all of what Kathy had to say, I felt so much relief and motivation to lead by example for my children and of course my daughter so when they as individuals are navigating their world of relationships, they are whole in the sense of who they are, what imprint they want to leave in their time on this planet and who they bring into their interpersonal space.
Thank you to you both, you are so blessed to have each other.