I am a feminist. So are you.
I am a feminist because I believe in freedom, equality, and justice for women. It is as simple as that. Are you willing to call yourself a feminist? I don't know many people--men or women--who are. I don't know how many times I've had to explain to people that being a feminist has nothing to do with hating men, burning bras, or thinking all women should get abortions. If you think any of those things are linked to feminism, this article by Toril Moi, a professor at Duke University, explains why. Please read it. It discusses not only "How Feminism Became the F-word," but also the power of language in shaping our perceptions.
As a side-note, do you know how "bra-burning" got associated with the feminist movement? No bras were ever burned (at least not, I'd wager, until after the term had already been coined).
For being such an important social movement of the 20th (and even, I'd argue, the 21st) century, it's amazing how little the average person knows about feminism's history. It's amazing how little the average person knows about what feminism is.
Edit: Guys, yes.
As a side-note, do you know how "bra-burning" got associated with the feminist movement? No bras were ever burned (at least not, I'd wager, until after the term had already been coined).
For being such an important social movement of the 20th (and even, I'd argue, the 21st) century, it's amazing how little the average person knows about feminism's history. It's amazing how little the average person knows about what feminism is.
Edit: Guys, yes.
Labels: feminism
posted by Sarah at
4:21 PM
3 Comments:
hms. food for thought.
Yeah, the problem is that there are some feminists (probably not a lot) who are CRAZY, and they give the rest of them a bad rep.
The other problem is that when a group of people have been oppressed for a long time, it's not always enough to just suddenly say the stakes are equal. There's this niggling sense that there should be payback, or some kind of compensation for all the shit that minority group went through in the past.
But to truly believe in equality is to ignore that urge, that sense of justice, of balance. And that's where some feminists diverge from that ideal. They want justice, not equality. (of course I don't speak for any particular feminists, and this is based on my rather limited knowledge of the movement).
<3
Crazies can't speak for a group, and justice does not mean revenge.
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