Every month, I read and evaluate between 100 and 200 essay submissions in order to choose six to eight for the upcoming issue. For our F-Word issue this month, I noticed that some of the essays focused on why the writers were no longer feminists, or that they redefined feminism as caring for their husbands, or how they suddenly realized that being too outspoken made them unattractive to men, or how they didn’t have time for feminism after they had children. At times, I felt like I was reading the script for an old Tracy/Hepburn movie, in which the feisty, independent Hepburn is tamed and taught her true nature by Tracy’s character before they can have a happily-ever-after ending. As if feminists can’t have happy marriages and motherhood isn’t affected by the outside world. As if not being equally represented in our own government doesn’t effectively silence our voice. As if a wedding dress means we no longer have time to redress some of our community’s injustices. As if having men open car doors for us is more important than all the doors of opportunity that continue to get slammed in our faces. As if being a mother means feminism is irrelevant even though all mothers surely hope their daughters will grow up to have the same rights and protection under the law as their sons. All mothers surely want to their daughters to be able to protect themselves from emotional or physical abuse, whether it’s on the job or at home. All mothers surely believe in teaching their daughters to lift up women who don’t have the same rights that they do, women who are still treated as the spoils of war in many parts of the world. All mothers surely want their children to be able to go to school without the threat of being gunned down in the classroom. And surely all mothers want to raise sons who will be caring, sensitive men who know how to use a vacuum cleaner and aren’t afraid of women who think. After all, who can argue with that version of “happily every after”?