Publications
Partners
I used to have a problem with calling myself a feminist. It was a stupid problem, but I’ll tell you anyway: I thought it simply didn’t apply to me. Of course I believed in equality and all that, but firstly, I thought feminism was a Girl Word. And secondly, I didn’t want to call myself the same thing as those weirdo feminazis I knew back in the late ‘80s.
(Seriously, the first actual feminist I ever met was wearing combat boots and her head was completely shaven (and her armpits were not). I asked her why she was voluntarily bald.
“Because I don’t want to be attractive to FUCKING MEN!” she spat angrily.
“Oh,” I said. “It works really well.”
It was an asshole response, but hey, she’d already decided to hate men forever.
Feminism is a word that has become more complex than it needs to be. Although it's clearly
and simply defined in every dictionary, few people seem to have a handle on what it actually means.
For example, here’s how the Oxford Dictionary defines it: “The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.”
Good job, Oxford! I totally understood that in one read.
Now here’s what super-bigot televangelist Pat Robertson calls it: “… a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”
Wait, what? Clearly Robertson is no fan of the Oxford dictionary – or any dictionary for that matter.
Yes, he’s an odious toad of a man who would do the planet a favour if he just fell off, but Robertson’s ignorant, angry stereotyping of all things feminist is by no means exceptional.
The internet is liberally peppered with misogynist assholes hell-bent on redefining feminism so that it fits in easier with their own warped perception of reality.
This just adds to the confusion.
When asked if she considered herself a feminist, Taylor Swift replied, “I don't really think about things as guys versus girls.” And more recently, Katy Perry said in interview, “I used to not really understand what that word meant, and now that I do, it just means that I love myself as a female and I also love men.”
They both seem like decent people – just a little behind on their reading.
But I understand Swift’s distancing, and Perry’s redefining the word to be more suitable to her Disney cartoon character persona.
‘Feminist’ is a scary, evocative word which conjures up an image of the angry woman in my anecdote who shaved her head because she hates men so much.
In a recent interview, Susan Sarandon said: “I think of myself as a humanist because I think it’s less alienating to people who think of feminism as being a load of strident bitches.”
You see, it’s all about association.
The word has become corrupted to a point where its dictionary definition is perceived as meaningless.
‘Feminist’ needs to be fixed and reclaimed. It’s a powerful word that can’t simply be replaced with ‘humanist’. Both are about equality for all, but ‘feminism’ also recognises the current gender inequality and pulls it into sharp focus.
But we must also remember that every movement has its share of bigoted jackasses who use their ideology or religion as an excuse to be a mean-spirited bastard. Feminism is no exception. Let’s weed them out.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
(Seriously, the first actual feminist I ever met was wearing combat boots and her head was completely shaven (and her armpits were not). I asked her why she was voluntarily bald.
“Because I don’t want to be attractive to FUCKING MEN!” she spat angrily.
“Oh,” I said. “It works really well.”
It was an asshole response, but hey, she’d already decided to hate men forever.
Feminism is a word that has become more complex than it needs to be. Although it's clearly
and simply defined in every dictionary, few people seem to have a handle on what it actually means.
For example, here’s how the Oxford Dictionary defines it: “The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.”
Good job, Oxford! I totally understood that in one read.
Now here’s what super-bigot televangelist Pat Robertson calls it: “… a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”
Wait, what? Clearly Robertson is no fan of the Oxford dictionary – or any dictionary for that matter.
Yes, he’s an odious toad of a man who would do the planet a favour if he just fell off, but Robertson’s ignorant, angry stereotyping of all things feminist is by no means exceptional.
The internet is liberally peppered with misogynist assholes hell-bent on redefining feminism so that it fits in easier with their own warped perception of reality.
This just adds to the confusion.
When asked if she considered herself a feminist, Taylor Swift replied, “I don't really think about things as guys versus girls.” And more recently, Katy Perry said in interview, “I used to not really understand what that word meant, and now that I do, it just means that I love myself as a female and I also love men.”
They both seem like decent people – just a little behind on their reading.
But I understand Swift’s distancing, and Perry’s redefining the word to be more suitable to her Disney cartoon character persona.
‘Feminist’ is a scary, evocative word which conjures up an image of the angry woman in my anecdote who shaved her head because she hates men so much.
In a recent interview, Susan Sarandon said: “I think of myself as a humanist because I think it’s less alienating to people who think of feminism as being a load of strident bitches.”
You see, it’s all about association.
The word has become corrupted to a point where its dictionary definition is perceived as meaningless.
‘Feminist’ needs to be fixed and reclaimed. It’s a powerful word that can’t simply be replaced with ‘humanist’. Both are about equality for all, but ‘feminism’ also recognises the current gender inequality and pulls it into sharp focus.
But we must also remember that every movement has its share of bigoted jackasses who use their ideology or religion as an excuse to be a mean-spirited bastard. Feminism is no exception. Let’s weed them out.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
