"thank you"

I am trying very hard to love myself, and I feel like this class has helped me to understand it on a personal level for other women, too. I have always wanted to be a "girl's girl," but I do not really do many "feminine" things except work in a purse store. Most of what I enjoy is fairly masculine, and more often than not I find myself surrounded by men who, while good-hearted, don't always quite understand me.

This class has been a great place for me to exercise patience and force me to come to terms with things academically. Being mostly self-educated previously on the subjects we covered in class, I never had a chance to participate in such structured discourse on these topics. Anyone who knows me knows that I love discourse, so I feel incredibly thankful to have been part of it.

I don't know if any other girls will ever even read my blog, and if they don't, that's fine. Girls are, however, so incredibly important to me, and anyone who tries to diminish their importance is not worth gum on my shoe (myself included; my own internalized prejudices are perhaps my greatest regret). I have never been so impressed with anything as I have been with the resilience of women in the face of adversity, with their adaptability in crises, with their ability to be whatever they have to be to survive and, in some cases, thrive.

I hope I can be as strong as Alice Paul and Sojourner Truth and Kathleen Hanna and all the other women in my class who taught me about all of their experiences. Some might think it silly to equate us to such great women, but I don't think it too controversial to say that every woman is a great woman simply for getting by in a society determined to make sure that they are subjugated by and subject to a power structure that will never help them to the top.

I have watched these other women grow into feminism in a way that is too heartwarming to describe. Whether it's in sports or in the ivory tower of academia, I can't wait to see what these other girls, representing the third-wave and all its good and bad aspects, can change.

Don't forget to love yourselves. Don't let the bastards get you down.

Thank you for everything, Professor Young.