The "F" word

There are certain words (not necessarily expletives) that people are wary of getting associated with....maybe, the implications, often the stigma attached to such words scare them off....what does it mean to be an atheist, or a leftist, and what not (there are so many such words with ambiguous meanings, like bureaucrats or socialists...ambiguous because people interpret them differently, if not always positively!). For one, I feel if one feels obliged to be called an atheist or a leftist (and whatever else), they should be devoted enough to support the cause and not squirm when faced with negative social rebuttal. I can understand if one doesn't feel the urge to put oneself out there too much, expose themselves or be categorized....but somehow, I feel there are some issues that cannot be ignored.

Now, coming to the word I am somewhat partial to, what does it mean to be a “Feminist”? I am reluctant to admit that a thought from my sister was quite correct, that every one of us is a sexist, in the sense we are biased towards the interest of our sex...but strangely, the word “sexist” has been used increasingly to refer mostly to the male sex....is it because they seem to support each other more than we females do? Or maybe our bias-ness towards our own sex have been depleted slowly and steadily through years of repression brought about by a patriarchal society?  

I have often wondered how come the things that infuriate me, seem to have not much of an effect on some of my female friends....from changing name after marriage, to moving to his parent's place, or quitting a job to raise a family or maybe just to stay with him....why should such things irritate me, I mean caring for one's family or extended kin, can't be that bad..it's just that I have across very rare cases where  a man does these things for a woman, yet a woman is somehow expected to do these things and more...I have nothing but the greatest admiration for home makers, and I know its a hell of a job (and I am very clumsy at any house hold jobs), yet why do more women fall into these categories than men? A guy friend of mine had said some time back, in jest, maybe, that men are more efficient than women, and he went on to argue with questions like how many noble laureates can I name who are women and how many women are more successful than men in any field? I wondered then whom should I direct my anger at, men who say and even believe such things or women who don't seem to care any less if people think them to be inefficient,  incompetent....I mean sometimes we are even referred to as the "fairer", "weaker" sex!!! What does it mean?I don't even know if my anger can be justified into any form of feminism, I just feel alienated at times even from my own sex....maybe that is the worst kind of discrimination, when we women don't stand up for each other....