Fletcher Reflections – Dipali Anumol

For me, being a woman is inseparable from being a feminist. Feminism is “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” Seen through this understanding, feminism is not only for women and/or other marginalized genders. It is not anti-male. Feminism is for everybody.

In honor of Women’s History Month, I would like to acknowledge my feminist “debt to those who came before.” Here are the building blocks, “the materials through which, from which, we create our dwellings,” of my feminism.  

To be a feminist is to make everything questionable.  

To be a feminist is to practice the arts of noticing.  

To be a feminist is to be curious and take things seriously.  

To be a feminist is to attend to and tend to.  

To be a feminist is to sit with feelings.  

To be a feminist is to be okay with being an outsider.  

To be a feminist is to do.  

To be a feminist is to resist.  

To be a feminist is to be a part of community and practice solidarity.  

To be a feminist is to fight for justice, not power.  

To be a feminist is to love and care.  

Dipali Anumol is a PhD candidate (ABD) at the Fletcher School, where she also co-directs the Ecologies of Justice program. Dipali is also a co-editor of Challenging Conceptions: Children Born of Wartime Rape and Sexual Exploitation (Oxford University Press). You can follow Dipali's work and illustrations on Twitter and Instagram.