Act of feminism You've got it all wrong, girls

I remember the first time I heard the Spice Girls when I was in elementary school. I became addicted to them like they were candy.

All of my friends and I would spend recess running around the playground yelling "Girl power!" with weird British accents. I realize now that the fact that the Spice Girls were so proud to be females is what made them so attractive in the eyes of everyone.

I know it is very important to be proud to be a female; it is expressed everywhere I see. Whenever I think of women empowerment, my mind always thinks of Secret Deodorant's catchphrase, "Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman!"

I love that saying.

As much as I love being a girl and as proud as I am about it, I have never understood today's feminists. The liberation of women under pressure was a fight that brought out excellence from women in modern times.

My psychology teacher has a poster that says, "Well-behaved women seldom make history." By showing how women experience discrimination in their public and private lives, feminism increased people's awareness of the full extent to which women had been oppressed.

It was their efforts for women's rights that have reduced the struggle within women of today. The feminist of yesteryear accomplished so much for the women of today and of the future, but we are destroying all they have done by taking it a step too far.

Today, a feminist would scorn a woman who was a stay-at-home mom while her husband worked nine to five and brought home the bacon. They would want that girl to get out in the world and fight with the men and prove that she can be just as good if not better than them.

That theory is in every way wrong. Feminism is not about being in a club and being stronger and better than men. It is the search for political equality with personal freedom.

A true feminist would be approving of the woman who is keeping the house clean and feeding her family for a living because she made the choice to do so.

A girl does not have to take over the world in order to have power and control in her life; she just has to do what she wants. Feminists today do not push that part of it enough.

Today, it is as if women can never be good enough for feminism. The worst part is every female out there thinks like that toward some other women.

Take the girls who shoot photos for "Playboy" for example. You always hear another female saying, "That poor girl, subjecting herself like that." All I can think is, "Girl, if you have the confidence in yourself and in your body to do that, more power to you!"

Now, I am not saying that girls should go out and pose nude; I know I could never do that, but can you imagine what it would be like to feel so good about yourself that you are willing to let the world know it?

I can already hear the feminists groaning about how terrible it is for a high school girl to be writing about this subject. It is a choice made, and thanks to the women before me, I have the right to make this choice along with every other woman out there who has ever made a choice in her life.

Annie Harman is a senior at Detroit Lakes High School.