Action Speaks Louder Than Thoughts

I was recently asked the question if I was a Feminist. My instinct was to think that it was a bit of a ridiculous question and that of course I was a Feminist. I was then asked what positive actions I took as a Feminist to address the issues that women faced every day and shamefully I did not have an answer to this question. In no way was the interviewer trying to catch me out - she wanted to highlight that lots of women believed that they were Feminists but lots of women were not active when it came to addressing inequalities in the world today that are based on gender.

It really got me thinking about what I could actually do. Action speaks louder than thoughts... I was the Feminist that was proud of being strong, independent, opinionated and forging my own way in the world and for me that was the limit of what I did, which in my opinion, is not enough. Often, it's so easy to make yourself think that you are doing so much good for a cause, that you stand for equality and women's rights because you believe in it but the truth is, I wasn't doing anything at all.

All over the world, horrendous atrocities are being committed and women are being persecuted for being born female. I've been aware of this, as well as the daily struggles women face in every day life but I did nothing about it. I know lots of people who are active but after talking to a few of my friends who also consider themselves to be Feminists, they too realised that they thought about how bad things were but never actually took action. There's so much that we can do to help and make a difference rather than making ourselves believe that by saying we're Feminists, that is enough.

I realised that getting involved is easy. There are hundreds of campaigns and charities to be involved with. Even writing about women's issues and highlighting the problems that we still face is getting involved. Anything that raises awareness of the inequality that still exists between men and women is good - tweeting, blogging, reading, setting up your own campaign, helping run fund raisers, volunteering at your local womens group. All of these help as there is a hell of a long way to go before such inequalities are eradicated.

Let's get involved and make a difference. Just saying we're Feminists is no longer an option...

Laila x