I’ve been thinking a lot about my history with women and feminism lately. I’m not quite sure exactly where it started, but I remember the moment when I became conscious of it.

I had just gotten back from a church youth camp. I was 16. I was talking to one of my best friends (a girl I had a huge crush on) about chivalry and what we thought was feminism: specifically if men should open doors for women. She voted no. I voted yes. When she asked why I said yes my response was simple. “All women are princesses, right?”

The response took her off guard for a minute. We shortly started talking about something else and we moved on.

I didn’t keep this mentality for long and I became a teenage boy again quickly. However, I always had more women for friends than men. I connected with them easier. I always wanted to help women. I never had any reason. It’s just how things were.

Maybe that’s why when I sent on my mission I was one of the few elders that got along really well with the sisters. I remember a sister commenting about why she liked me as a mission leader. “You treat me like you treat a normal person.”

You wouldn’t think that was a huge deal, but I guess as a missionary that was a bigger that it should have been. Shouldn’t all women be treated as people? There was nothing in the mission rules about treating the sister missionaries like furniture. So why would I do it?

When I got home I started delving more into sociology, theory, and life in general and I realized that I love strong women.

They’re great.

Seriously.

I get so sick of the men (and women) who don’t think that it’s important for women to get an education because, “They’re not going to use it”. I’m so tired of men who check out during General Conference because there is a woman speaking. I just want to grab them by the head and say, “WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID!?”

Okay, that might be a bit harsh… it might not be though. I’m not sure. Actually, it’s not a bit harsh. It’s legitimate.

The history of the submissive woman has always confused me. You’re got these women who during WWII are empowered through Rosie the Riveter propaganda They’re working in factories and supporting children and running the country while their husbands and sons are at war.

Then comes the 50s. The war is over and suddenly these wonderful women are told to stay home and that they’re not supposed to work. No wonder their children push the feminist movement in the 60s and 70s.

When I started dating my wife I jokingly sent an application for dating to her mother. There was a question at the end that said, “A Woman’s Place is _______”

Without hesitation I wrote, “Anywhere she wants”.

Over three years later, I seem to have passed that test.

So that’s where we are. We need empowered women.

What can we do to make that happen?

Quick plug in for a friend who needs our help. Melissa Jenna is a huge inspiration for how I write and what I write about. She’s currently involved in a competition of sorts to become San Luis Opbisbo’s Social Ambassador. She’s got until the 18th to get into the Top Ten applicants in terms of votes.

Voting is easy. Just visit ivotemj.com to be redirected to the page. Scroll past the entry form and she’ll be the first person you see. Please vote. She is awesome. Here is her reasoning on why you should vote. She’s got an awesome resume and even better ideas.

Hi, I’m Melissa Jenna Godsey, and I’m a writer, video-blogger and host of a popular tech webshow for iFixit, located here in San Luis Obispo (check out my show!http://www.youtube.com/ifixityourself ). Whether it’s engaging my tech audience, or growing the community of readers on my blog ( http://www.melissajenna.com ), social networking is what I do, naturally. I love showing off where I live to my friends and followers, and do so on a regular basis in a feature on my blog called “Vacation Life” (because life here feels very much like a permanent vacation). The Social Ambassador position is a natural next step for me, as I have years of proven experience in cultivating vibrant, engaged communities (as opposed to just signing up for twitter, etc, for the Social Ambassador job), and I’m basically SLO’s biggest fan. You can check me out for yourself, professionally via my show linked above, and the accompanying Twitter account: http://twitter.com/ifixit , and personally via my blog linked above, and my personal Twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/melissajenna . Additionally, Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/melissajenna , Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/melissajenna , and Pinterest:http://www.pinterest.com/melissajenna . And for what it’s worth, I write, film, edit, score and design graphics for all of my own content, including my blog’s design and all my social networking skins. Basically, I’m a complete package. …and now I’m done bragging. Thanks so much for your support!