Summer of Feminista: Feminism and Friendship

Today Summer of Feminista welcomes, Brenda Hernandez. Brenda is a law school diversity professional. She is the Outreach Coordinator for Hollaback! Boston. She is also a Co-Director for The Boston Doula Project. You can read all about her feminism, pop culture musings, and her upcoming Latino Jewish feminist wedding at BoricuaFeminist.com.

I’ve always maintained small tight knit friend circles. I have my group from childhood, my college friends, and my law school friends. Usually these groups max out at about four people. These women have been my rocks. They’ve seen me through the great and most definitely the not so great. I have always valued strong female friendship and that resulted in an immediate connection to feminism. I recognized the importance of a sisterhood and to fight for the rights of those closest to me.

Some of my girls identify as feminists, but not all. This has never been a requirement of my friendship (laughing on the other hand is non-negotiable). In fact, until recently I never needed my feminist community to also be my friends. A common goal was enough to bring us together and I was fine with that. I would attend events alone or show up to volunteer, maybe chit chat a bit, and then go home.

That changed when I moved to Boston two years ago. Being new to Boston and a month from my 30th birthday I wasn’t sure how I was going to meet people. I decided that a good start would be attending feminist and women focused events. It was months before I could make this happen as I was consumed by my new job responsibilities and adjusting to cohabitation. When I finally attended my first event, I met someone who would later become one of my closest friends in Boston. Naturally we bonded over Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

And it didn’t stop there. As I immersed myself in the small but mighty Boston feminist community, I also began to build a girl gang like never before. This group of women is fearless. Our conversations slowly turned from the issues at hand to how we fit into the larger picture together. It became about more than just the cause but about us. The personal is political, after all. And what could be more important than helping your friends navigate through the patriarchy together. My friend circle is now much larger than it has ever been and sharing feminism makes it as tight knit as ever. And of course, lots of laughs.

Summer of Feminista 2014 is a project of Viva la Feminista where Latinas are discussing girlfriends.  Link and quote, but do not repost without written permission. Read how you can join Summer of Feminista.