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How can a conservative woman be a feminist? We don’t fit into the mold of what a feminist is or what people typically deem as a feminist. How can I label myself, as a conservative woman, a feminist? It’s easy. I’m a person that believes women deserve the same rights, privileges, and respect as men. It really is that simple.

Women before me fought for my right to be seen as equal to men under the eyes on the law. They wanted equal rights, not only for themselves, but for their daughters and future women. I am forever grateful for women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Sojourner Truth for their hard work and dedication to the original and first wave feminist movement. Their efforts and success have allowed me to grow up in a society where I am expected to compete with the men and never feel like I can’t do something because of my gender.

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While I am in full agreement that men and women should and do have equal rights, this does not mean I believe we as men and women are equal. It is a biological fact that we are different. Women typically have less muscle mass and women usually have less dense and weaker bones. However, women seem to produce more antibodies than men and we have more white blood cells; do you know what that means? Women tend to develop less infectious diseases as men and we normally recover faster. We have equal rights, but we are biologically different. 

I am treated differently because of my physical difference to men and quite frankly, I’m okay with that. I appreciate it when a man offers his help. He is not offering because he sees me as wimp or a poor helpless girl, he is offering his help because it is innate for a man to help a woman out of respect. I watch males buy my dinner without a second thought and I have been appreciative when the door has been held open for me even though I could do it myself. Chivalry is not dead and I am grateful that I am the recipient of chivalrous acts.

As a conservative feminist, I am also pro-life. The thought of an abortion disgusts me however, the woman who is having the abortion does not. I feel for the inner struggle this young girl or maybe grown woman may be going through and I wish they knew of the endless ways someone could help her. I am pro-life because I see the potential in women to be good mothers. I am pro-life because I believe every human deserves a chance and I do not think that becoming a mother should change the course of a woman’s dreams.

Because I am pro-life though, many in the liberal feminist movement will not accept me. They claim to be all about choices but how come my choice to be pro-life isn’t accepted? It is important to note that my position on abortion does not make me any less of a feminist than someone who is pro-choice.

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What I do not appreciate coming from fellow feminists, who tend to lean liberal, is that they push forth a narrative that conservative women are brainwashed for being conservative. To tell a fellow female that she is not capable to think for herself simply because you disagree with what they believe is counterproductive to the true meaning of feminism. This only hurts the feminist movement and it is why many women make the choice not to identify as feminist. As feminists, we need to make our movement more inclusive and less exclusive. Let’s work together to be the best and most successful women we can be.

I keep my heels high and my standards higher. Being a female is a blessing, not a curse. I do not fall victim to my gender, I own it.

I am a feminist. I vote Republican. If you can’t accept that, you might not be as tolerant or the feminist that you claim to be.

Caroline C.
FFL Cabinet Member
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