Bernadette Garcia, 27

“To be young and Dominican and a feminist born in the U.S. has been a slow process for me, because I have had an issue trying to identify who I am.

“When I was 16 or 17 years old in high school, there were double standards within my family, community and culture that I was totally against. It was my aunt who guided me and helped me understand what feminism is and to have ideas where I can be critical and questions social norms. Society pushes us to be conformist, but she motivated me to think outside the box.

“I come from an immigrant family and I consider myself a feminist. But feminism is the inclusion of everyone. The beauty of feminism is the fluidity; I find feminism everywhere I go.

“The person who introduced me to feminism was a Dominican woman, but that doesn’t mean I owe Dominican feminism more than I owe U.S. feminism or any other type of feminism. Feminism is feminism. It can be anything.”

[fusion-script src=”http://static.fusion.net/feminist-voices/boot.js”]
[fusion-script src=”http://static.fusion.net/feminist-voices/byline.js”]