I'm a feminist now.

The process is basically over and just starting all at the same time. My name is officially changed. I sat for over an hour in the social security office, during office hours naturally, and sat through well over another hour in the DMV. While these things are always a joy, it definitely got my anti-men hackles raised.

Don't get me wrong. I dig men. I dig my man in particular. I never even had an experimental girl phase in college though I was in a sorority. (More male stereotypes...) Normally, I just figure that I personally don't have it that bad and that most women I know don't have it that bad. There are bigger political fish to fry.

But...

Why did I have to sit in the freakin' DMV and social security office while the hubster did nothing? Again, this isn't against him. It's not his fault, and in his defense, he was working hard at work. ... You know, like I'd be doing if I had any job but teaching. Where is a woman supposed to get this time off? I would have needed to do the social security office thing first anyway because they need to do security clearance that takes several days before you can change your license. So are they just assuming that I can take two days off of work to do this or are they just assuming that I don't have a job?

To be fair, no one forced me to change my name. To be more fair, you can mail this stuff in and it will take several more weeks than I ended up taking. But when you've got hours to wait in line to change your name, a girl's got some time to think.

I've only had a couple "real" instances of gender discrimination. Most of those were when I worked at Fleet Farm in the automotive department and I handled those fine because in the end, I know that I am knowledgeable, smart, and good at most jobs I've had (including that one!). I had no insecurities. Maybe this one bothers me because I didn't have to do it. I was the one following an old, old tradition. Who can I really be mad at?

The moral of the story is that I'm not sure who I'm mad at, but I didn't like waiting in those lines. And I'm pretty sure I was there because I have a vagina. That's the same as feminism, right?