With a Capital F

There are only a couple of things that I hate more than writing and writing about myself is one of them.  (Celery and deep water are others and may be discussed in later posts.)  I think I'm getting better at it though and appreciate that I'm being pushed out of my comfort zone, as I believe grad school is supposed to do.  I am currently enrolled in the part-time social work masters program.  I am only in my second semester of the three-year program and I am really enjoying it so far. 

My interest in Feminism (yes, I capitalized the "F" word) is for both professional and personal reasons.  Now that I have completed my first semester in the program and having a bachelor's degree in psychology, I have come to realize that the majority of theories used to assess, analyze and provide therapeutic services are written by a bunch of old white men for the treatment of white men.  I don't think these theories are always particularly useful when working with women and minority populations.  I have come across a couple of paragraphs in my texts discussing feminist social work theories but the coverage is very sparse.  As a social worker, I want to work in residential treatment centers with adolescent girls and think that a formal education in this area could be very beneficial towards reaching my goals and doing my (future) job well.

I think I was born a feminist and I am personally interested in this class as a means to further develop my feminist self.  I have always been called things like mouthy, stubborn, or too independent and have come to be proud of those labels.  I have rarely conformed to the requirements, both implied and spoken, set for girls and women in the local culture in which I was raised.  They neither seemed fair nor appealing to me.  Luckily for me, I was raised in a family where education and independence were valued regardless of sex or gender and was supported unconditionally.  It is important to me that my son be raised in a similar environment and taught to question and challenge the status quo.  While looking at a picture of our past presidents a couple weeks ago, he asked me why there were no women presidents and I knew I was on the right track. :)

I am very much excited about this class and the projects that we will be working on.  Due to my job, I will be unable to attend all of the classes but look forward to reading and learning from my fellow feminist bloggers.