Feminism and Empowerment

For one we try to empower people to break free of traditional gender roles. Women at DR do construction. Men do childcare. Everybody cooks and cleans. We make a real effort to share skills and empower people to do things society at large didn't teach them to do. Of course we also support people when their interests do fall along traditional gender lines (not everyone wants to do construction or childcare).

We also support people in breaking out of cultural gender stereotypes. We believe everyone, regardless of gender, can nurture and support others, or cry when they are sad or angry, or be assertive and confident. We try to break down assumptions and let people grow in ways not always supported by our wider culture.

And we are very aware of the gender differences that seem to exist in our culture (whether these are biological or cultural is an ongoing discussion in feminist circles). We feel it's critical to understand these patterns and dynamics as we create our own culture here if we want to be a place sustainable for people of any gender.