Bathtubs and Feminists

I feel accomplished.  Today I went to work, ran a bunch of errands, had coffee "out" (I live in the country, like WAY out in the country), swept my kitchen, cleaned my pantry and most impressive of all I unclogged my bathtub drain and then scrubbed the tub.

Uh ya, the title of my blog is "Quotidian Art."  You shouldn't be surprised that the bathtub is making an appearance.

On days like this, when I unclog the tub or change a particularly tricky light bulb at an awkward height or place, set up my own wireless network or figure out how to release the garage door when the power is out, I feel a sense of pride.  If I was telling my dad about this he would chuckle and call me a "feminist."  Not that he thinks that I shouldn't do these things; he taught me to do most of them, in fact.  It is just that he gets a kick out of me bragging about my independent "accomplishments."  Over the weekend the concept of a "feminist" came up with my parents.  We were talking about a young woman that they know and my mom said, "I don't know if she is a feminist or not."  And that made me wonder, are there still feminists?  Or are women of my generation what women of my mom's generation would call "feminists" but really we were just raised with the equality and privilege that my grandmother's generation fought for?  (I've tried to make that more clear, but it isn't happening, sorry.)

So thanks to the efforts of past generations of great women, I can unclog a bathtub.  Real feminists probably would ask me to stop bragging about my success.

Soon I'll be moving out of the world of independent Miss and into (hopefully) independent Mrs.  Sometimes I worry, however, that being married will give me permission not do the hard things anymore.  In the future will I just ask MarinerMagic to unclog the drain?  If the car breaks down on the road will I call him to call the tow company instead of calling them myself?  Will I scream when I find the spider on my pillow and demand that he find it and kill it instead of just cooly brushing it off myself?  (Not likely; he hastes spiders more than I do.)

But now that he knows that I can do all those things myself, my married life is sure to be less cushy.  Shoot.

Addendum:  This afternoon my friend T sent me this article from The Guardian.  Check it out!
"Your not a feminist, but.....what?"  Chloe Angyal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/07/feminist-f-word-young-women