GUILTY FEMINIST 101

Hi there! I'm Melissa.

I'm 19 years old, from North Yorkshire. I'm currently studying psychology at Northumbria University and love a good party. I wanted to start a discussion on here about feeling like a guilty feminist. I'm it's something we can all admit to, right?

All my life I have been a feminist without even realising it. I'd stick up for a girl in the club when a boy tried to grope her and nothing rattles my bones as much as fat shaming on the internet (coming from a naturally curvy girl myself who has been conditioned to HATE her body!)

But one thing I particularly love about this forum is it gives you a place to confess! Often identifying as a feminist 'officially' seemed daunting. There is a lot of negative stigma around and one thing I have a hard time with is how perfect you have to be to be a feminist.

Here are a few examples;

• It almost feels as though you can't say you support women's rights because you keep going back to your toxic ex who you know isn't good for you.

• Fighting the tyranny of niceness seems almost impossible, yet imperative to be an advocate for the revolution. I can't even begin to tell you the unpaid overtime I've took on at my temporary job whilst trying to balance university work.

• I have male friends who see feminism outdated and aggressive and I'd rather not come under the knife for that

Everything I've listed above stops me from getting involved. I see activists and girls online who make being feminist seem so easy, attending marches (never been to one), showing off their stretch marks (couldn't think of anything worse) not shaving their armpits (certainly not something I want to be a part of)

Bad witch is so lovely because it gives us all a place to rant about how exhausted we are that we aren't an exemplar feminist and so what?! I mean really?

You can be a part of feminism without advocating for it 24 hours, 7 days a week. You don't have to get angry at yourself for not speaking up when a boy makes a semi-sexist remark at a party. The truth is, no one has got it all figured out.

So please, go ahead and tell me a time where you have gone against every feminist rule and it's left you feeling like a failure. That feeling of letting the team down.

You'll be surprised to see how many people often feel the same too!

Get typing ladies x