Are You a Feminist?

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June 10, 2009

Feminists have always received criticism from resistant members of society. In the 1960s and 70s, second-wave feminists were called "manly," "bra burners," and "man-haters." Rush Limbaugh has made a living off of calling women feminazis. So, it's easy to see why some women are hesitant to identify with the feminist movement, especially because people aren't quite sure what "feminist" means. So, are we in a post-feminism era? Mindy Roberts of The Mommy Blog asks, "Are you a feminist?"

What is a feminist to you? Can a stay-at-home mom be a feminist? If you're not a feminist, does that mean you're anti-woman? Join the Momversation by commenting.

Panelists

Alice Bradley - Finslippy Dana Loesch - Mamalogues Giyen Kim - Bacon Is My Enemy Karen Walrond -Chookooloonks Mindy Roberts - The Mommy Blog

Keywords

News and Politics

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14 Comments

kristanhoffman

I really like how Giyen brings in the cultural differences to this discussion, because it's true that some things that "feminists" would get up in arms about, are truly not things that "diminish" women in other societies.

Dana also brings up a good point that feminism is not about hating men -- unfortunately, that is the reputation that many attribute to it.

Finally, I'm glad Karen mentions that being a stay-at-home/work-from-home woman can still be a part of feminism. It's not about being just like a man; it's about being free to be any kind of woman we choose, and not be penalized just for lacking a pen*s.

Thu, 2009-06-11 05:47

nicoleballet

I am a feminist! I believe in equal rights for women as for men, equal pay, equal choices. I don't believe that your choices should be limited simply because of your gender.

The word 'feminist' has been so butchered over the years that several women find it difficult to declare themselves as such. Case in point: Katty Kay (wrote a book about empowering women in the workplace) was on the Colbert Report a couple days ago and he asked her several times if she was a feminist, and she avoided it like the plague before finally saying yes.

I also liked her whole point that in order for women to be looked at equally and valued equally we don't need to work in the same way as men do. We need to break away from the traditional ways of the work place. Just because women take maternity leave, want to work four days a week, or from home etc. doesn't mean that their work is less valuable than the men who don't make those allowances.

Thu, 2009-06-11 06:42

Kimberly - Mom ...

I'm taking the following as a definition of feminism:
"Feminism is an intellectual, philosophical and political discourse aimed at equal rights and legal protection for women."

By that definition, I am definitely a feminist.

Can a stay-at-home mom be a feminist? Definitely. I was a stay-at-home mom before I became a work-at-home mom (doing parenting writing and speaking). For me, feminism is about women having choices. Since I choose to schedule my work life around my family life, my life is one of the strongest feminist statements. (Now, if my husband would have forced me to do so (good luck with that!), that would have been a different story.)

Thu, 2009-06-11 10:20

amazonqueenkate

This will probably make me unpopular, but in a way, I feel like "feminist" is an outdated term. Sure, I think that women and men should have equal rights, but I think that all people should have equal rights. I liked Mindy's use of "humanist" because I better think that's what we, as people, need to be these days: equal rights for everyone, not just women.

Being a feminist, at least in what I've seen (and along with what Karen said, in a way), has been used as an excuse for a lot of bad behavior. I've seen it used as an excuse to bad-mouth men and also, more shockingly, bad-mouth other women. I can't count the number of times I've heard proclaimed feminists to say that things like using full maternity leave, or shaving legs, or being a stay-at-home mom, or wearing makeup, or even marrying and having children at all is "setting us back" as a gender. The ideal is not that women need to make sweeping sacrifices to be treated equally and taken seriously. In fact, that's the exact opposite; we should be able to do those things and be taken seriously anyway.

Not long ago, a co-worker got on my case because I said I wasn't a feminist. "Don't you think women deserve equal rights as men? That's all feminism is," she argued. I do believe that, but I think that I'd rather call myself a humanist, because I think a lot of our equality issues, especially these days, strain far beyond the simplicity of just feminism.

Thu, 2009-06-11 10:27

paperfairies

I agree with amazonqueen 100%. I think the revolutionary baggage the word has, the women that have gone to unnecessary extremes to push the cause forward and the "man-hater" connotation picked up by the media has made the term feminist a very negatively charged one. I think our times require words like humanism and equality to include every person/community that has been a victim of oppression or unfair treatment.

Sometimes in the quest for fairness the scales tip in certain areas, like child custody agreements for example, but equality should be an all-encompassing truth, not a term to be used only when it is convenient. I am a feminine yet incredibly strong Hispanic woman than knows she deserves the same treatment as any other HUMAN. That is why even though I am absolutely a feminist by definition, I don't use the term.

Thu, 2009-06-11 11:10

mosey along

I've always been uncomfortable with labels simply for the reason that they sometimes have such narrow definitions and lend truth to the "perception is reality" line. That said, although like Giyen I'm not a card-carrying feminist or in the frontlines of the movement, I do consider myself a feminist. For me it's as simple as - how can I not? Generations of women have gone before me fighting for the benefits I'm now fortunate enough to live with every day.

Humanist, feminist, civil rights activist/supporter. I'll gladly slap a sticker on myself with any of those labels and hope that anyone who define themselves differently will celebrate it and not judge my choice.

Thu, 2009-06-11 12:30

bwankel

I had a *slight* issue with this before I even watched it, because the word "feminism" means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and is not the kind of thing you can have a nice, neat little 5 minute conversation about. But, I get where the nature of the discussion is supposed to land. And yes, I would call myself a feminist. To me, feminism is about celebrating womanhood, and celebrating that we all now have CHOICES that we did not have before. I don't care if you're a stay-at-home mom, a working mom, childfree by choice, a secretary, a high-powered executive, a trophy wife, whatever! The point is that because of the women's movement, you were able to make that choice.

Humanism to me overlaps feminism, but isn't a replacement term for it. Equal rights for all is slightly different than realizing women at one time had no rights, and now do, and want to make sure those rights are preserved and their significance recognized. Think about this: women have not been able to vote for a whole century yet. And to celebrate that we can, and to not diminish the significance of that, you don't have to shave your head, burn your bra or go on a bitter rant about how horrible men are at your next book club. Unfortunately, stereotypes are based on truths, and there are women like that out there. But, if we all work together, the stereotype of a feminist can be changed.

Thu, 2009-06-11 13:51

Momartfully

I said it before in the Momversation Forum: "I absolutely am a feminist, and I'm very proud of it. We aren't at the point where equality for women is a luxury or a non-issue, women being recognized as PERSONS isn't even a reality for most of the world."

"Post feminism"? When did we get to the finish line?

Thu, 2009-06-11 20:15

mrs.notouching

I agree - the word 'feminism' has a bad reputation, mostly because some people took it to the extreme or worse - out of context. But the same thing happens with anything - religion, politics... if you take it too far it loses its value and true meaning.

Fri, 2009-06-12 07:12

nicoleballet

In my opinion, the term 'humanist' is just too broad. Yes, I do believe in equality regardless of gender, race, origin, handicaps, etc. But being a woman myself, I am especially passionate about equality for women. I'm not going to pander to other people's negative view of that word because in certain contexts, the term 'humanist' simply does not apply. I think we need to reclaim the definition of feminist. Declaring that we are feminists without being the stereotypical 'down with men!' image that the feminist label conjures up would really put new life into the word.

The bigger problem here is that there are still people who say that women today have equal rights, that the feminist movement is over. That is simply not true. I believe that equality for women deserves its own word in order to get the attention that it deserves. If you lump this issue in with others, it gets lost.

Fri, 2009-06-12 08:00

bcraft

I agree with Nicole. Humanist may refer to many of our hope for equality for all, but it cannot replace the feminist movement.

As we've move into "third-wave" feminism, our emphasis certainly has broader goals of equality. Our legal rights are defined, for the most part, as equal to men. However, in reality, we still harbor social and cultural stereotypes that don't honor women and men in the same way. I think we confuse this whole issue by applying concepts of measurement to equity. Few people (I hope) would argue that a man and a woman should be paid the same for the same work (and while that might not yet be a reality in our culture--women still make, on average, 70 cents to every man's dollar--I certainly feel, as a whole, we agree that should be resolved), those responsibilities that are not quantifiable should be honored to the same degree regardless of gender. Women tend towards these responsibilities; in a sense, it's nurturing versus providing. Feminism today, to me, means honoring a person's life choices, regardless of gender. That means honoring a man's choice to be a stay-at-home-dad and regarding that choice as as admirable as a mother's choice to work an 80-hour/week job as a high-powered professional in the work force.

Fri, 2009-06-12 10:03

Naomi

Absolutely, I am a feminist. It bothers me that so many women are hesitant to use the term, as if it has negative connotations… To me, it means that I believe women are as capable and as culpable as their male counterparts, in every situation. I used to think it meant that women and men are the same but now I think it's important to accept and embrace our differences, while mandating equal treatment. I always thought that gender was mostly socialized but now that I have a daughter and a son, it's clear to me that most sexual stereotypes are rooted in real differences. That being said, I definitely want both of my children to be exposed to the same things and given the same opportunities throughout their lives. I want my daughter and- almost more importantly- my son to join in the feminist movement.

My generation has been lucky enough to grow up feeling entitled to equality but I think it's made us lazy to a certain extent. I know that I always assumed that all Americans believed in equal rights between genders, races, creeds since in my world that was such a given. (My mother is Japanese and my father is white. His father was a NJ Jew and his mother was a Methodist from rural Alabama. Both my grandmother and my mom converted to Judaism when they married.) It wasn't until I finished college that I realized not everyone came from such a tolerant background. And not until I became a mother that I realized the subtle ways that even educated women can dig at each other and try to discredit one another.

It's so important to love being a woman and to want other women to succeed in life, too. That's what I see modern feminism as. Nothing to do with burning bras any more, thank you very much.

Fri, 2009-06-12 12:03

jenn

Great topic. I would define feminism as the pursuit of acquiring equal access to education and careers. In our country and society it may seem that this is already the case, however, there is a whole culture of oppression within the church. There are still many segments that emphasize that women and men have different roles, giving men access to some careers and functions (like teaching and leading) and women access to others (like baking and childcare). It wouldn't seem that this distinction within various churches is a big deal, however, we work and live with these people who may or may not carry their religeous views from church to the workplace. Our patriarchal society confirms this, whether the people who perpetuate oppression are religious or not.

Mon, 2009-06-15 18:03