Merriam-Webster’s definition of feminism.

1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes

2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests

I am a feminist. I believe that women should have the same rights as men. The rights to choose their own careers, the rights to have or not have families, the rights to be paid equal pay for equal work. And it pisses me off that women have been “given” these rights, as if we should feel special for getting something we should have had all along. I support women in their choices, even if those choices may not be my own.

I had an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago that left me scratching my head. It was the first chilly morning of the season, which meant that the Tire pressure monitoring system in my car freaked out. I didn’t want to deal with putting air in the Tires and figuring out which tire was the problem, so I made a quick trip over to Firestone, where I knew they would check the tires for free. 

There was a woman at the counter, and I told her that I wanted to have the tires checked.

“Sure, we can do that. Do you know how to do it? If you don’t, I can show you.”

As a matter of fact, I do know how to check the air pressure in tires, and I do know how to add air. So I found myself in the position of feeling like I should explain why I didn’t do it myself. Except that “Because I didn’t want to” didn’t seem like a great explanation. 

But why not? Why isn’t that a good enough reason? Isn’t that the point of feminism, to allow women to make their own choices? So why did I feel guilty about choosing to outsource a task that I didn’t want to do myself? And why did the woman at the counter assume that I didn’t know how to check the tires?

She directed me on where to park, and she checked the tires. It was the third tire she checked that was the culprit, just tripped by the colder weather. And she gave me this, you know, so I can check my own tire pressure next time.