Do you ALWAYS have to be a feminist?!

After an enlightening conversation with a close friend, I have realized I have more to say (shocking, I'm sure). Two things have become apparent to me, through this conversation:

1. I am not as good at articulating myself as I would like to think I am, especially on political matters when analyzing from a gendered perspective
2. I am not ready to give up trying to do that yet

So let me clarify a few things (or at least give that a stab). The answer to the title of my blog post is both yes and no. Yes, I always have to be a "feminist", in the sense that I view the world the way I do, and will never give up on the idea that women and men should be given equal opportunity to thrive in the world (nor do I think anyone was suggesting I should). I don't apologize for seeing the world the way I do and although it may be overwhelming to you that I always seem to be thinking about it, trust me-its more overwhelming to me.
But also, no. I don't always have to take the path of feminist analysis.  Do I always have to watch a TV show or read a cartoon or see a movie and immediately think of the ways in which the authors gave an unjust gendered portrayal?! Of course not. 
I could just as easily read a political article in a daily periodical and look at it from a realist perspective-and analyze the power dynamics of the article, leaving gender completely out of the equation.

However, my fascination with the world around me, specifically with the political world around us, lies at the juncture of gender and politics. I'm particularly interested in the ways in which gender, etc. manifests itself in political matters. I'm also interested in pointing out these perspectives in an article when its not obvious or prevalent in that article. Isn't that the point of a good analysis? Is to point out what the quick scan of the article may have missed? And this is why I choose to take the gendered perspective when looking at articles. Its why I have a blog with the word feminist in the title.

And I'm also interested in conveying these perspectives in a non-threatening way that doesn't make me sound like I'm constantly ranting. I don't want to be written off because my perspective is always the feminist perspective that seems out of touch or extremely biased. I will say that I think that in any article, in any interaction, in any political situation, there are intersecting identities at work and at play, and the situation can be viewed and analyzed from different angles. I think its a valid point to raise that of COURSE there are different perspective besides the one I choose. And my struggle-the struggle for anyone with a strong minority perspective-is to articulate a new perspective in a way that at least makes people see the topic in a new way. Even if they disagree and even if, ultimately, they decide that you're wrong. And the struggle is to find the balance between staying true to my perspective while acknowledging that the world, and the reality in which I live, are at odds from time to time.