Has Free Jinger had any influence on you?

[AtroposHeart]

The other day, I was thinking that if it was not for Free Jinger, I would have never used the term feminist to describe myself.

Has Free Jinger influenced or changed your way of thinking in anyway.

[meow139]

I hadno idea about the DUGGARS before I came here.

[kpmom]

I'm a little quicker to speak my mind IRL since joining. I might have kept a little quieter previously to keep the peace. But, I'm more apt to speak up now. And I've borrowed, ok, stolen, some of the great material found here. "Special snowflake" is a favorite.

[Lainey]

The other day, I was thinking that if it was not for Free Jinger, I would have never used the term feminist to describe myself.

Has Free Jinger influenced or changed your way of thinking in anyway.

Yes, same for me with feminist. It's also made/making me more liberal (which has previously been a bad word to me due to our horrid Liberal party). I wouldn't have had occasion to think about the patriarchy or the assumptions I was raised with (girls who have sex outside of marriage=bad...at least that's what they told me). I've always been pro-choice but it's made me better able to defend my position. I'm sure there's more...I'll post again if I think of anything.

Basically it's challenged me and made me think about my assumptions.

[ladypuglover]

It has caused me to reevaluate myself and look to see if I am where I want to be in life. Also to stand up and speak out more for what I truly believe in.

[latraviata]

The other day, I was thinking that if it was not for Free Jinger, I would have never used the term feminist to describe myself.

Has Free Jinger influenced or changed your way of thinking in anyway.

Not in the least.

[valsa]

I don't think FJ has changed my way of thinking but it has given me more confidence in expressing my thoughts. When you're surrounded by a culture where jokes about rape and beating women are on the television at 6 o'clock, it can be easy to think "am I the only one who has a problem with this shit?" Talking with like-minded women (and men!) at FJ lets me know I'm not alone.

[jaynie]

I've been incorporating a lot more fundamentalism/rigid authoritarianism/patriarchy into my writing these days, that's for sure. Though oddly enough, I think FJ has made me more sympathetic to some fundies, especially those brought up in the system, and it's made me consider more carefully why people might be drawn to such a system in the first place.

[ElphabaGalinda]

It's made me more confident in public. I think it's made me more comfortable with my opinions when I see that I'm not the only one. Its also made me more aware of all the anti-woman and anti-gay laws out there, which made me realize that there were people out there who wanted to take away the rights of others. I feel like i've been living in liberal non religious bubble, so what other places are like has really opened my eyes to what I really should be fighting for.

[VooDooChild]

I think since reading FJ, I have been more apt to look beyond the surface of things and not just accept things as they are. I found FJ around the time I realised my church was fundie-lite. I no longer attend church. I think about things more deeply now. I'm also more confidant to stand up and speak for what I believe in. In essence, it helped me realize that I was checking my brains at the church doors and that's not normal.

[CynicMom]

I've been asked twice now if I was a women's studies major. Nope... that would be FJ

[Maude]

Before finding Free Jinger, I had no idea that fundies existed to the extent that they do. Outside of what I knew of the FLDS and the Amish, I had never before encountered such an extremeness in beliefs from people who've reaped the benefits of an education and/or a free society. It's still all very strange to me, but I'm thankful to FJ for giving me the opportunity to see just what's out there, and how important it is to keep fighting because we've still got a long way to go.

[Bookworm]

It's had a lot of influence, especially with some of the links on here that I have checked out that really educated me. When I started reading the old boards I was pretty fundie, a 6-day Creationist, scared of the End Times, etc. etc., so it's helped a lot. And as some of the others have said, it made me much more confident about speaking up IRL, because I used to think when I felt uncomfortable with a statement or someone's attitude that it was probably me, but now I am much more aware of how things are connected, and I have had a lot of good discussions with people IRL where I explained my view and they had never heard it that way before.

And I might not have discovered all the ex-fundie blogs I love if not for FJ!

[Glass Cowcatcher]

I frequently experience cravings and symptoms of withdrawal if I don't post. :D

In all seriousness, I don't think it has changed my outlook, but it has given me more sources to cite, so to speak, when it comes time to point the finger at the patriarchal and theocratic fringe.

[AtroposHeart]

I've been asked twice now if I was a women's studies major. Nope... that would be FJ

LOL, that is my favorite respone yet.

[Sprocket]

I look at the world as a much scarier place to be a female now. I'm more hyper-sensitive to the rights of ALL people and I get more and more anxious by the day when it's obvious that it's a large percentage of my fellow Americans who are trying to chip away at our civil rights and civil liberties. That has a lot to do with FJ.

[Maude]

I look at the world as a much scarier place to be a female now. I'm more hyper-sensitive to the rights of ALL people and I get more and more anxious by the day when it's obvious that it's a large percentage of my fellow Americans who are trying to chip away at our civil rights and civil liberties. That has a lot to do with FJ.

QFT. I, too, found out the world is a much scarier place than I originally believed it to be.

[samurai_sarah]

I've become far more political since being on FJ. Before, I used to quietly grumble in my library. Silly as it may sound, I'm immensely proud of myself for the blisters I sustained at an anti-fascist-racist rally this weekend. I suppose I should add that I'm really, seriously socially akward and crowds scare me, so going to a rally on my own, is a huge deal for me. Next time, I'll know to wear better shoes, but for now, the blisters remind me of standing up for my beliefs. Thanks FJ for "making" me do it! ;)

[keeperrox]

I've become less concerned about raising a child without some kind of formal religion.

[snarkykitty]

Participating here hasn't changed what or how I think, but it has provided me with a bigger worldview. I still maintain the same beliefs, but I am better able to articulate them against a world stage.

[valsa]

I suppose I should add that I'm really, seriously socially akward and crowds scare me, so going to a rally on my own, is a huge deal for me.

Congrats! I have social anxiety and I totally understand that something like going to a rally on your own is a really big deal!

[samurai_sarah]

Congrats! I have social anxiety and I totally understand that something like going to a rally on your own is a really big deal!

Thank you for that. That honestly means a lot to me!

[AtroposHeart]

Thank you for that. That honestly means a lot to me!

I suffer from sever social anxiety, I am proud of you for standing up for like that.

I wish to do that someday as well

[emmiedahl]

I was a recovering conservative when I stumbled onto freejinger. I had been kind of the Alex P. Keaton rebel in a hippie family. But I was starting to give it up. Freejinger hastened that along. I have always had issues with how insensitive and hateful conservatives are, and I was never anti-gay or anything cray-cray like that. I had that attachment to the traditional family, though, and freejinger is full of so many liberal feminists with traditional families that I began to see politics in another way.

I believed what I heard on TV about Obama, but whenever I said anything here, someone would set me straight. That also helped. I was reluctantly pro-choice, now I am not even a little bit reluctant. I think I was already trending toward liberal beliefs, but freejinger hastened it along through well-deserved smackdowns and also a whole lot of great friends I made here.

My beliefs have been in a state of flux over the past 5 years because I have had things happen that make me question my assumptions. Not just economic things, but religious things. I am glad I have so many good friends here because it helps me realize that there is nothing wrong with wanting to, for example, feed children, or teach real science. We are really good at cutting through crap here.

I hope this is coherent, I am stuffed from a way too delicious dinner and also a little tipsy from the wine that went with it.

[AtroposHeart]

I was a recovering conservative when I stumbled onto freejinger. I had been kind of the Alex P. Keaton rebel in a hippie family. But I was starting to give it up. Freejinger hastened that along. I have always had issues with how insensitive and hateful conservatives are, and I was never anti-gay or anything cray-cray like that. I had that attachment to the traditional family, though, and freejinger is full of so many liberal feminists with traditional families that I began to see politics in another way.

I believed what I heard on TV about Obama, but whenever I said anything here, someone would set me straight. That also helped. I was reluctantly pro-choice, now I am not even a little bit reluctant. I think I was already trending toward liberal beliefs, but freejinger hastened it along through well-deserved smackdowns and also a whole lot of great friends I made here.

My beliefs have been in a state of flux over the past 5 years because I have had things happen that make me question my assumptions. Not just economic things, but religious things. I am glad I have so many good friends here because it helps me realize that there is nothing wrong with wanting to, for example, feed children, or teach real science. We are really good at cutting through crap here.

I hope this is coherent, I am stuffed from a way too delicious dinner and also a little tipsy from the wine that went with it.

Yes, it is very coherent. I need to clarify that I was rather socially conservative as well and rather mean about my beliefs, Free Jinger sorta showed by own uglieness to me and help me to change.

It also gave me the strength to get rid of the misogynists in my life