The Fem

I was asked today why I choose the title, "Montana Fem" and it gave me a lot of pleasure to describe what that means to me.
My mother one of 7 girls in a family of 11 was definitely a Feminist while not knowing it. She had 4 daughters herself and instilled a great degree of pride in us at being female. Throughout the course of my life there are many incidences that sustain me in my belief that I was a Feminist before I knew it.
Now, as I get into a more mellow mindset in my 30's, I find myself more comfortable then ever being a female in this world. I have passed those awkward teen years when standing up for myself as a woman would have been a social ill and my twenties when I was too busy trying to figure out who I wanted to be to notice that I was perfectly fine the way I was.
In my late 20's I took an Eco Feminism class and I learned that being a woman did not mean being anti male. I love males and always had a hard time with that concept. In fact my first real conversation with a hard core feminist was with a man name Rob. My mind expanded, I understood why I did not feed on anger towards men but still felt strongly that being a woman meant having a harder row to hoe. Some of my Feminist friends do not understand me when I say that I have excepted that, to my bosses who are male, I am less in the work place than my male counterparts. I try to explain that I am secure that I work hard and that I earn all of the respect that is given me, not because I am a male but because as a woman I have had to earn it.
I work in a male dominated industry, Guitar Manufacturing, and I am not afraid to say that I use that to help me succeed. I don't mean I have slept my way anywhere I just mean that the men that I work with are used to dealing with other men and to deal with a woman, especially a woman who knows her stuff, is somewhat refreshing and impressive to them.
Lets face it, there are differences in the sexes. I am not in the mindset that we are exactly equal in every way, but we are equal as humans and should treat each other as such.