In my very first post I made some references to the idea that being a feminist means you're open to making choices, and just having the option is part of the joy!
However, I've had a really tough time feeling like a "good feminist." In reality, I'm a pretty traditional person, though I am very pro-woman in my attitudes. So it's been tough for me to bring together my attitudes (Go women! Sexual liberation! Reach for the stars!) with my reality (Married next year at age 22, still a virgin, unsure of my career).
Luckily, someone else in this world realized the ways women are being tugged in many directions, and she decided to write a book about it. Her name is Peggy Orenstein, and the book is called "Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids, and Life in a Half-Changed World."
Over a couple of years, Orenstein interviewed over 200 women about their life choices and the struggles they feel. Often, we are told we can do everything, but it's truly much more difficult to manage love, family, and the professional world.
The stories aren't preachy, and Orenstein doesn't offer a concrete answer. But what she reveals is a world full of choices. Choices to have children. Choices to remain childless. Choices to rise to the top in their careers. Choices to find love and screw the rest.
The book offers so many perspectives and the truth that there isn't one right way to do it, so the best we can do is embrace the choices that we are able to make. The read is easy, but it also sucks you in.
I highly recommend that anyone facing life choices choose to give Orenstein's work a try. It's absolutely made a world of difference for me.
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