By Dr. Jennifer Smith
Matrix Contributor
I resist the notion that men and women are polar opposites.
I resist the idea that prejudice and intolerance are inevitable.
I resist the sense that change will never occur.
I resist the suggestion that resistance is futile.
I resist privilege in all its forms.
I resist the stereotype that feminists are ball-busting, humorless man-haters.
I resist willful ignorance.
I resist a world where violence is normalized and accepted.
I resist the belief that one person can’t make a difference or that small actions don’t
somehow change the world.
I resist the nefarious –isms.
I resist the assumption that the Women’s Center is for women only.
I resist so that my students, my niece, my nephew, and my friends’ children can know a
better world.
I resist the belief that lived experience doesn’t count, that our stories aren’t
transformative.
I resist the temptation to remain idle in the face of injustice.
I resist because I don’t have a choice.
I resist.
This piece was taken from the Fall 2011 Matrix. To read the rest of the story, click here. To read more stories like it, visit http://www.plu.edu/matrix/.
