What do you say to people who say things like, "There are so many more pressing issues (such as racial injustices, families experiencing economic turmoil, and brutal wars being fought) than woman's rights? Why fight so hard for a cause that is not causing any serious immediate damage?" Someone said something similar to this to me the other day, and I felt so stupid that I couldn't respond more eloquently. What would YOU have said?

I'm sorry that you had to have your belief in feminism challenged. That has certainly happened to me before, and it’s always most painful when it comes from someone who I otherwise really love and respect—it seems so dismissive of my values and work. I'm not sure if that is exactly your situation, but when that has been mine, I know that's when I am the most challenged. Whereas, when a critique comes from a stranger or someone I don't otherwise respect, I can more easily dismiss it as us just not sharing values. More specific to your question, I think that you have to point out the way those specific issues are also feminist issues—for instance, racial injustices are often targeted at women, women and children are experiencing the most economic turmoil right now, etc. I think these issues are a part of feminism, not separate from it.

—Amy