"5 things feminism has done for me"

1. I am entitled to express my opinions without having my organs removed

In Victorian times, if a woman’s temperament could not be “controlled” by loosening her corset or being kept in a quiet place with a cold compress applied to the head and neck, it was common for her reproductive organs to be removed.

or being placed in an asylumn or solitary confinement

The idea of the Wondering Womb developed during this time, as madness was associated with menstruation, pregnancy, and the menopause. The womb itself was deemed to wander throughout the body, acting as an enormous sponge which sucked the life-energy or intellect from vulnerable women? (Ussher 74). Thus, women became synonymous with madness, as they were deemed to be emotional and unstable. If a woman of the Victorian era were subject to an outburst (due to discontentment or repression), she would be deemed mad. The word Hysteria became the general term for women with mental illness and cures included bed rest, seclusion, bland food, refrain from mental activities (such as reading), daily massage, and sensory deprivation. Though these treatments do not seem too appalling, they were comparable to solitary confinement and would often drive a woman to further insanity.

2. receive an education and teach others without being murdered for doing so

3. has provided me the opportunity to have greater control over my reproduction. The ability to have control of and say over ones self is one the founding principals of democracy, self esteem and sanity.

Sanity
is a state of constantly evaluating your own behavior, and your own intentions, and the behavior of others, and the intentions of others, towards survival for all.

4. the right to vote, to hold office and property

5. To determine when, if or whom I marry, to expect to be respected as a person to have autonomy, not to have to walk five paces behind or apologize for being a woman...
Most of all feminism has allowed me to have a life with hope.