I have always kind of considered myself a feminist. As a kid growing up in a broken home I had an appreciation of the sacrifices my mother made for my brother and I. My mom had custody of us and although we had regular visitation times with my dad, I knew that in a lot of ways the brunt of the parenting responsibility fell on her shoulders. In school I never felt threatened by the girls who were smarter than me or even better at sports. I always agreed that girls could be what ever they wanted to be when they grew up just like us guys could. As a young adult I was attracted to strong, independent women and participated in events at the Women’s Resource Center such as Take Back the Night rallies. When I entered the workforce most of my bosses ended up being women and as a man this didn’t bother me. I consider one of those women to be my mentor and she helped me immensely to grow in my career path. When it came time to pick my life partner I chose a woman who outshines me in typically masculine fields like math and science and is a lot less likely to cry at a cheesy Disney movie than myself. (I am eternally thankful that she picked me back.) What I was not prepared for was the impact that one young lady would have on my life and my perception of women - my newborn daughter, Luna.

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