Young feminist chases her dreams
“I grew up in a very traditional Mexican household, where the father was the one who provided and the mother stayed home. That continued until I was 11 or 12, when my mother started working to help with the bills.
“My father was always a very hard worker, and he always treated me and my sister well. But whenever it came to doing things like yard work, he would tell us that we had to learn how to do everything a man could do. He said that we were just as strong and just as capable as men. But when it came to doing more domestic work, like cooking and cleaning the house, he wasn’t as supportive of making our brother do those things as he was of making me and my sister do them.
“It’s funny; I told my father that him being so old-fashioned made me a feminist because he taught me I can do everything a man can do. He says I’m really smart, I have a good head on my shoulders, and he trusts what I think about it. He doesn’t necessarily agree with it, but we have a laugh.
“I feel like the term feminism is often misinterpreted. Being a feminist does not mean you’re a man-hater. To me, essentially, feminism recognizes the equality of the sexes. Women are human beings, and we deserve equal rights to men.
“Men have centuries of ground ahead of us. But in such a short amount of time, women have created a lot of stepping stones for themselves to break so many glass ceilings. It’s really important to learn about those stories of successful women, and for women of my generation to feel empowered and chase our dreams, too.”
— Kaelyn Anaya
Kaelyn, a library technician at Sterling Municipal Library, recently started the Baytown Feminist Book Club. During the coronavirus pandemic, members meet weekly online. They are currently reading “The Female Man,” by Joanna Russ. Learn more on the Facebook page.
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