Someone at school:
I don't understand suicide, i mean its just stupid, selfish and the easy way out...
Me:
you don't get it do you? those people don't want to die they just want to end the pain inside, the pain neither you or I see, it's not a last minute decision, people who commit suicide plan it for months. For months all they have in their mind is How? Why? Where? When, so please don't tell me it's the 'easy way out' you have never been in the position of someone wanting to kill themselves, do you know how hard it is to fight your body because your brain wants you to survive, you don't understand how hard it is to Jump off that building, swallow those pills, jump in front of that train, drink that bleach. Also do not tell me that it's selfish, what's selfish are the people who aren't seeing the signs and aren't helping them, suicide isn't selfish. Suicide is a desperate act by someone who is in intense pain and wants their pain to stop. That is a human response to extreme pain, not a selfish one. And over 90 percent of the people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death, so they are not thinking clearly. Saying that a person who had severe clinical depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, or a similar illness was engaging in an act of selfishness when they died by suicide – even though their thought process, mood, and judgment were greatly affected by their mental illness – is not only inaccurate, but downright cruel, to both the suicide angel and the suicide survivors.
*By this time everyone in my class had turned round and was staring at me blankly with their mouths open wide, including my English teacher.*
Not feminism:
Oh my God, that woman is wearing make-up and high heels! She can't be a feminist. She's just adhering to the patriarchal expectations of femininity! What a traitor to her gender.
Not feminism:
I hate men! Women are so much better than men! All men are rapists and we don't need their help! Men are just there to oppress us and keep us down! Women are the superior gender.
Not feminism:
You're giving up your career to have a baby? You're being dictated to by a man! That's the wrong choice! You've slept with twenty men? Wow, way to show that you have no respect for yourself.
Feminism:
Women and men are equal. No-one should be discriminated against on the basis of their gender. Women have the right to decide how to live their life, how to dress, what to do with their body and who to love.