pudge pride and social change

I got out of work and I'm going to the club.

And tonight, I'm channeling Big Girl Beauty

I am going to wear a racer-back tank top and skirt.

I am not going to be ashamed of my lovely arms and shoulders. Nor will I try to restrain my lovely belly. You will not find me covering my luscious curves.

No. Way.

Because I love me.

And I'm a feminist because of what I heard on the hip-hop station tonight. A young lady caller was telling the story of how her man just decided to up and leave her with no explanation. She's pregnant with his baby, and on her way to drop of his belongings at his house. And the DJ. On a hip-hop station. A culture that dehumanizes women. This DJ told her to keep her chin up, because nobody can, complete her, the people who come into her lives can only complement her. That she can make it on her own and she doesn't need any man to make it through. If he's not going to be responsible, to value her as the carrier of his posterity, then she doesn't need him in her life.

I'm a feminist because even a few years ago, who would have said that to this young woman? Who would have given her full human value on her own, apart from her partner? This is the product of social change, driven toward valuing women.