As
a Women and Gender Studies minor, it irks me when professors stand in front of
the room and say “Do you believe that men and women are equal? Then you’re a
feminist.” This statement is problematic
on so many levels. Over the past five
years, “feminism” has gone from being “the other f-word” to a buzzword. Celebrities toss it around in casual
conversation and more and more young people are identifying as one. Don’t get me wrong; I love feminism. I’m a big ole patriarchy-smashing feminist
and I think it’s a philosophy that everyone should embrace, but I’d rather have
people say they’re not feminists than have them be pop feminists.
For
one thing, feminism is no longer about men and women. We now understand that the gender binary is a
social construct and that with a little abstract thought, we can deconstruct
that reality. There are so many genders
outside the binary: genderfulid, transgender, gender nonconforming, agender,
third gender, pangender, and an infinite number of others that I can’t think of
or don’t even know exist. Feminism isn’t
about men and women being equal, it’s about equality amongst all the
genders. If you’re asking, “Do you
believe that men and women are equal?” you’re missing half the message.
I
also don’t think you can claim to be a feminist if you’re not pro-choice. Not “pro-abortion” or any other negatively
connoted phrasing slapped on people who respect a woman’s right to choose, but pro-choice. As a feminist, you have to believe that even
if something’s not right for you, that doesn’t mean it’s not right for someone
else. In the wise words of Amy Poehler,
“Good for her! Not for me.” It’s not fair to call yourself a feminist and
not to trust other women to make the right choices concerning their bodies. Every person’s circumstances are different,
and it is our job to understand that just because something is a right decision
for me, doesn’t mean that it’s the right choice for you.
It’s
not right to call yourself a feminist if you regularly and consciously body
shame and slut shame. Society has
conditioned us to exist in this constant state of policing other people and
what they do with their bodies, but that’s not how we should be wasting our
energy. Who cares if that person is fat
or that one is skinny? Who cares if that
woman you pass on campus has slept with more people than you can count on your
fingers and toes? Why is that any of
your business? As long as that person is
healthy and confident and happy, why should we stop hir from living hir life? They aren’t hurting you and more importantly,
they aren’t hurting themselves. Until I
start to notice actually unhealthy habits in their lives, I’m not going to
intervene. It’s not my job to tell
people to live their lives a certain way.
If you’re a feminist, you will understand that that person has autonomy
over their own body and that it is nobody’s goddamn business what they do with
it.
If
you’re racist, you’re not a feminist.
Welcome to fourth wave feminism where we realize that the intersectionalities
of our existence work together to create our experiences as humans. A white woman’s experiences are different
than those of a black woman are different than those of Asian or Latina or
Native American women. You’re also not a
feminist if you claim that you are so not racist that you don’t even see
race. Don’t you understand how important
a person’s race is to their identity?
As a white woman, I know that my race is normalized to the point that it
almost doesn’t exist. I can go days
without realizing I’m white. When I look
in the mirror, I say I am a woman before I say that I’m white. But by ignoring the fact that everyone has
race, even though it is a social construct, you are ignoring what could be a
person’s main identifying feature. You
are telling them that their race-based experiences are unimportant. Irrelevant. You are removing part of their identity. There are reasons that black women identify
more readily as womanists than feminists. As a new generation of feminists,
we have to work together and realize that race causes us to experience life
differently and that those differences are all relevant and they’re
important. If you can’t see that, you’re
not a feminist.
I
love feminism. It is a topic near and
dear to me and I believe that it is a political ideology that can benefit
everyone involved. I think the world
would be a better place if everyone identified as a feminist. However, if you identify as a feminist, but
you’re doing nothing to advance people of all genders and backgrounds, then
you’re not a feminist. I understand that
many times we are conditioned to act a certain way, but we need to work beyond
this social conditioning and think for ourselves. We need to be sure that feminism isn’t
exclusive and that it is working to improve the conditions of everyone, but the
only way to do that is by realizing that feminism is more than just thinking
that men and women are equal.
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