It's All Relative

While Wendy Davis was standing up in her much-discussed pink sneakers in Texas, here in China it was just another day where abortions are 50 bucks a pop- and that's for a good one.

Some Americans are fighting for the right to be in control of how many children they have by being able to choose abortion as an option. In China, some are fighting for the same right, by being able to not choose abortion as an option.

"One is enough," A friend of mine nervously laughed as we talked about the one child policy over rice and green bean soup. Her friend disagreed. "They become too spoiled!" She said. Here I was, surrounded by women who had zero choice in what their family could look like or be. Abortion isn't an option here. It's a must.

The idea in China is having more than one child sucking resources and money would be selfish, greedy, wrong. In the United States, the pro-life idea is that mothers who choose abortion instead of raising a child are selfish, greedy, and wrong. How could a human being with thought choose a lower "moral" path instead of choosing the rights of the unborn? says one half of the world. How could a human being with thought choose to take and take from the rest of the people that need things so badly? says the other half.

Woman in Saudi Arabia are fighting the hijab rules. Women in France are fighting for the right to wear them. Women in the U.S. still fight against the glass ceiling and job competition, while women in Scandinavia fight for a longer mother's leave from work.

We cannot define feminism by what we are for or against in these kinds of issues. The woman in China wanting less abortion clinics is just as feminist as the woman outside of the Texas courthouse wanting abortion to be more available.  Same for the women all over the world, fighting on polar opposite sides for the same thing: freedom.

Being a feminist is about more choice, however that applies. Be a global feminist. Think about the big picture. Be aware that your political stance does not hold true all over the world, that cases are different, that humbleness and wisdom are required wherever there is change. Be willing to be wrong, to be right, to stand with sisters whose needs are different from yours. Don't forget about the men, our amazing feminist men who have just as much polarity in some of their issues as the women have. Listen. Discuss. Travel. Read. Stay out of the box, and you can change the world.