Oooh - I've been tagged. By Alice, to list five things feminism has done for me.

1. Gave me much more confidence about my place in the world than my mother had. In particular freed me of much of the self-hatred women felt in the 50s and 60s and gave me positive images and words to replace all the negative names and stereotypes she was hemmed in by.

2. Gave me a community - the women's movement - and a cause to fight for when I was in my twenties.

3. Gave me choices - expanded the spaces within which I can live. Being single was a choice for me for a long time, and I enjoyed it. I shunned all domestic crafts for decades. Now I knit!

4. Made it possible to talk about sex from women's point of view which in turn dispelled some of the shame and confusion of my mother's generation.

5. Gave me pride in being a woman, and respect for other women.