And a more serious post for today as well.
I’m a feminist, and
I’ve been one since childhood, possibly before I completely understood what it
meant. As an adult, I wear my feminism proudly. I try not to, but I am
skeptical of any one who responds unfavorably to the word feminism (or more
broadly the concept of feminism). Feminism argues for equality for everyone. While some would assert that it is just for women. These people aren’t familiar
with feminism, and they fear what they refuse to attempt to understand
[pass].
In the past week Susan Sarandon, a woman who has championed the
rights of women, came out as “she wouldn’t call herself a feminist.” Because
you know the word is divisive. On the flip side, Ellen Page, my personal hero, argues that
feminism should be radical people should call themselves feminist. Preach. As of Tuesday, Amy Poehler weighed in as a feminist in awesome and epic fashion.
Sarandon is quoted,
“It’s a bit of an old-fashioned word,” she refers to herself as a “humanist”
because the word is “less alienating to people who think to feminism as a load
of strident bitches and because you want everyone to have equal rights,
education, and health care.” She continues to say the feminist identity is used
to “minimize you” and her daughter can’t relate to it.
Page says, “I think
if you’re not from America you read this stuff and you’re like, ‘What?’ But I
don’t know why people are so reluctant to say they’re feminists. Maybe some
women just don’t care. But how could it be any more obvious that we still live
in a patriarchal world when feminism is a bad word? Feminism always gets
associated with being a radial movement—good. It should be. A lot of what the
radical feminists [in the 1970s] were saying, I don’t disagree with it.”
Poehler made this statement, "It's always just been in my nature--its just kind of my everyday. Sometimes I access it in a conscious way, but it was always the headline of stuff that I was doing. We just had Gloria Steinem do ASSSSCAT, which was so great. Kathleen Hanna [musician and activist] came, and I'm just a huge Kathleen Hanna fan. She, for me, was closer in age and a practicing and working feminist, at the time, that I related to. When I was in my late twenties and thirties, there were these amazing female musicians, like PJ Harvey and Bjork and Kim Gordon...These musicians are all still around, but, I mean, they were the most popular musicians! Just constant really interesting women; sex wasn't their currency, but they were really sexy and sexual. I gave you a long-winded answer. [Laughs] So the answer is: Yes, I consider myself a feminist, and it informs my work only in that it's just who I am, in the same way that I'm a woman, or I'm 5'2" or whatever. I was lucky that I came through a system that had many people who did much more hard work and road-clearing before I got there."
Take minute and
look at those statements from women in the same field where women are
underrepresented, ageism runs rampant, and women are regaled to specific roles
within the industry and on screen, as the abortion debates rage on, as inmate
sterilization is uncovered, as child poverty rates sky rocket, and as women are
actively silenced in political debates. Come at me bro. I also find it
interesting that Sarandon claims her daughter can’t relate to feminism while
Page, someone close to Sarandon’s daughter’s age, embraces feminism. Poehler hits how I relate to feminism; it just is part of who I am. I wouldn't be me without it.
I choose the term feminist
over humanist because humanist is a way to pander and frame the discussion once
again to center on men, better make sure the men feel included or they won’t
support equality? Um, no. I think more of and expect better from men. Feminism
is supposed to make people take notice, and if you enjoy privilege as a result
of the oppression of others then you should find feminism a scary word. Also,
humanism is rooted in the Renaissance (talk about old fashioned word) and is
kind of about individualism and in some definitions pushes for the rights of
human beings at large.
Feminism should be radical
(though I have a lot of issues with the Radical Feminism of the 1960s/1970s),
but it should be “take to the streets” encouraging. People are the most
powerful when we demand our rights and that our representatives listen to us.
I’m not going to
get to into what is a feminist and how it is defined, but a basic rundown: there
are discussions about personal feminism, but feminism as a politic statement
includes reproductive rights, the ERA, equal pay, child care, health care,
voting access, and workers’ rights. This is just a basic run down. Additionally,
this is why there are conflicts over the book Lean In because can the COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, argue for
feminism while participating in the oppression of others? Complicated, yes.
Worth considering, yes.
My boss and I discussed
at length today the ramifications of Roe being overturned in what I can
honestly say is the first conversation I’ve ever had like this. Women are
people, which at some point gets lost in this debate because “oh, the unborn”
is chanted over and over. Remember this because the pro-life community
(anti-choice community) doesn’t give a damn about these children after they are
born. Also, remember that anti-choicers claim humanism, specifically, that
fetuses are human, and by extension more human than the women carrying the
fetuses. I mention the anti-choice because the Right is excellent at crafting their message usually making it sound better than it is. For example, pro-life, they aren't pro-life they are anti-choice. People who are pro-life are anti-capital punishment and pro-increasing assistance programs to the needy. It is the same with right-to-work. These people can brand, and they did it to feminists, too. Now feminism is a word people want to distance themselves from.
I’m a feminist
because I believe in:
Equal pay
Reproductive choice
Organized labor
Universal
healthcare
The Equal Rights Amendment
Title IX
The Voting Rights
Act
Affirmative Action
The separation of
church and state
And so much more
I’m exercise my feminism by:
Voting
Working outside the
home
Working inside the
home
Traveling
unaccompanied by a male relative
Owning property
Participating in
higher education
Accessing to
birth control and control over my reproductive rights (for now)
Etc, etc, etc…
Women who distance themselves
from feminism aren’t necessarily ignorant, which in the past is what the
people who distance themselves from feminism were. They didn’t realize what
feminism meant. But what these people distancing themselves now are, is cowardly.
Being afraid to identify as a feminist because some people find the word
decisive? Weak. You disagree with the movement, the direction, the whiteness of
the feminist blogosphere? Fine. But Rush Limbaugh made it a dirty word? *SMH
and scowls* Atheist, Liberal, Progressive, Florida Gator’s Fan, these are all
words that have a negative connotation, but people still embrace them. They
embrace these words because these people believe (or don’t believe in one case)
in something; they support it.
Language matters.
Using the term feminism matters. It matters because it is a politically charged
word. Using it sends a message, and it is a message worth sending. And in its
most basic form it means women like men are people and deserve the same rights
and treatment under law.
