What does make you a feminist?

Question

I ask this because in another answer I said I was not a feminist because I was not a militant or either had a degree in Women's Studies. But this answer was bothering me, and I ask myself why.

The first book on feminism I had "The Second Sex" by Simone de Beauvoire, made a lot of sense to me when I was a teenager. Since then I read many books, and most of them have made a lot of sense.
I teach my students (girls) to value themselves and believe in what they are and I have had to deal with nasty power games from males in my profession.

I believe in feminism as a humanitarian social tool. I believe that it fights for a better world for ALL of us.

My question then is, if I am interested in politics, this doesn't make me a politician. So how this relates to being a feminist?

Perhaps I have been all this time one and I am just intellectualizing the semantic aspect?

Answer 1

The way I look at it is that I cannot say I am or am not a feminist because that word often gets hijacked to mean something it wasn’t intended to mean. Not only that but let’s face it- all women are different and often it means whatever each individual prefers it to mean. For example, I was watching something about a debate in feminism today that had some believing that porn is okay because they say it’s about beauty and humans have always loved beauty whereas the other side said it was inherently negative towards women. How can someone call themselves a feminist from this angle of such differing opinions? I would not being comfortable with that so I mostly just consider myself a humanist since well, . . .how can anyone hate humans? It’s basically a way of saying you deeply care about everyone and I personally have nothing against men. Are some men sexist? Yes, but some women are too.

I think the main difference is that (like white people or others in power) men are more likely to do damage with when they are. Sometimes rich people are prejudiced against poor and vice versa but we all know which is worse. Women make up a small majority of the population yet only a handful of countries have women in leadership positions and in many countries women do not have even very basic rights. For example, I was exceptionally upset upon hearing about Bariya Magazu’s case in Nigeria. Here is a teenager who was likely pressured to have sexual relations with three of her father’s friends because her father owed them money. She later became pregnant and this is against the law in that part of Nigeria. They sentenced her to 100 lashes in due time after childbearing concerns but the men got off scot free. A lot of her rights were limited because she is female and this doesn’t even cover people’s hidden prejudices that you cannot see.

I’ve read about other cases very similar to this in parts of the third world and let me tell you I’m far more concerned about any of these real life women than Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, or Ségolène Royal’s battle for leadership like so much of the Western media. Unfortunately that’s one thing that gives feminists a bad name. The media often tie being feminist with championing a female politician simply because she is female but this is silly. I’d just as soon vote for someone because they have curly blonde hair. I don’t think it means anything in terms of advancement of women just because any particular women wins(as with men) but rather it’s just an issue if not enough women make it through somehow. It’s sort of like nurses- you don’t care if any particular person becomes a nurse but if not enough choose to be a nurse for whatever reason there will be problems in the society because they are needed. My feeling is the same about women. We need women in leadership positions in general and we need to be more concerned about so many women in the world who are being abused by the system.

I don’t know much about what to do but I think we need to stop the celebrity circus that says a female celebrity is great for women if she wears a shirt that says “girl power” and talks about how powerful women are. I for one wish that we could have some conversation on Yahoo about real life cases in some of these countries. What can we do to get more average people upset and fired up about real life abuses? You know, instead of the useless “what should I name my pet Muslim”, “why are black people criminals”, “why are white people so racist”, “why are Americans so stupid”, etc. God knows we must have enough people with plenty of free time. Or better yet, look at the obsession with little girls or young women that go missing. Can’t we ever become interested in cases where a woman is being abused simply because she’s a woman? That should be the very epitome of feminism.

Answer 2

I've read articles in papers (both online & offline) which are nothing more than trying to dictate what makes "a real man" (in their opinion, only)... I've read many feminist authors and many websites/blogs, I've also interacted in reality with feminists (of which only one is what I considered a decent human being, a very nice lady indeed) and also had some feminists come to my website. As an example of site/blog interaction, I had a feminist linking to my site from a feminist thread on a seperate forum. She made endless claims and when asked for proof of her claims, she pointed people to a couple of threads on my site... she wouldn't quote anything. She claimed that I was expressing *my* opinion, and then continued to tell the viewers what *my* opinion was... She was utterly wrong as one of the threads I had not even posted in and the other I had not given any opinion either way (and I used same handle on both sites, so no possibility of mistaken identity). In short, she lied and hoped that people would be too lazy to follow the links and read the content themselves, thus convincing people of her dishonest opinion. That's how i see feminism... lies, misinformation and a deafening silence at hatred towards men.

Answer 3

Being a feminist is not an accomplishment. It doesn't take a degree. It's a set of beliefs.

Now sadly the modern feminists largely consists of crazy women who have problems in their life and would rather blame them on 'the man' or 'men' than own up to their own shortcomings. For them I recommend to quit crying, adapt, then try again at whatever they are going for. (These are the ones who are just whining for special privileges.)

But, there are also a few in there that know what they are talking about and actually want equality. For these people I wish there was a completely separate word so they don't get confused with the militant crazies. Unfortunately the crazy ones, either by media or by being the majority, have taken the word 'feminist' and twisted it by claiming to be one.

So how about the level headed ones come up with a new word and unify the front so there aren't so many misconceptions.

As it stands now, almost anyone could claim to be a feminist. Even if their only thought is hating their father. I highly doubt it'll revert, thus needing a new name. Anyway, bring on the thumbs down since I'm sure the bulldykes out there are offended by what I've said.

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I don't think you're one of the crazies, Rio. One of the furthest from it, actually.

Answer 4

Feminism is a part of my value system.
As the poster above me noted, usually when a person holds a value like Feminism, it is a part of the whole emotional,mental and spiritual aspects of a person.
I believe feminism is a compassionate way of looking at the females in the world, and even were I male, I'd still be a Feminist.
Men who are Feminist get such a huge vote of approval from me, because they could choose to be apathetic towards Feminist issues, or to be a typical "Macho Man".
Good luck

Answer 5

Your concept is very similar to mine - maybe near-identical.

The public sees "feminism" as the pro-woman analog to "fundamentalism" in religion. Both groups contain many positives in themselves, but both also contain many extremists in their number who can give the broad majority a real bad rap.

The terms "feminist" and "fundamentalist" have both become so widely used (and mis-used) that they are becoming useless to define anything. There is a mistaken assumption that there is a "feminist position" on many issues - abortion, gay rights, marraige, employment rights, etc - all relating to reproduction, children, and work. What a limited outlook.

The media use both terms as a shortcut label to get a 3-minute news story down to 1 minute. And distort the story in so doing.

I feel that feminism is a VALUE SYSTEM - not a set of positions on issues. It includes at its core honoring the value of each person (male or female, young or old) and fighting against all that devalues those lives. This value system is something we chould all agree on - then we can work out what those values mean in terms of all aspects of society.

Answer 6

A feminist is a person who believes that women should have the same political, economic and social rights as men.

American Heritage Dictionary
fem·i·nism, n.
Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.
The movement organized around this belief.

Answer 7

Yes, you are a feminist. Many women are feminists by definition but do not realize it since the term "feminism" has a lot of very negative connotations attached to it. Many people now associate feminism with the extreme, but really have no idea what they're talking about.

Answer 8

I am a feminist because everything I want in my life has been made available to me by feminism. Also, because I believe in the full equality of the sexes, with no exceptions that can be helped (even if they'd work in my favour).

Technically, if you have a deep interest in politics, you are a politician; "-ician" means specialist. It's only used to describe someone who has made it a career.

Hey, B Dorian, am I one of the non-crazies?

Answer 9

I have also been roundly told off for calling myself a feminist, particularly since I am a full-time mom. However, I hold to this definition of feminism:

"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people."

Clearly, women-as-people can have some differences from men, as a whole - but the feminist is one who refuses to apologize for or pretend away those differences. She looks science in the eye and says, "I still demand that I be treated fairly under the law" and "My opinions are no less valid because I am a woman".

I have always had an interest in "Women's Issues", and in reading what other feminist women have to say. Many of my favorite books could be classified as "Women's Studies - everything from "feminist" anthropology to looking at the economic issues of motherhood in our society. To be told I'm not a "real" feminist because I allow my husband to open doors for me is nonsense - we are certainly "equal", but only a fool would insist that we have the same amount of upper body strength.

I read recently that some women have taken the term "choice feminism", to seperate themselves from those who say that raising children is not a valid "choice", but I'd almost prefer "classical feminist" vs. "modern feminist".

Answer 10

Feminism demands equality, without exceptions.

Social, political, and economic equality. You can't pick and chose which ones you like and still be a feminist.

If you do, you are just a regular non-feminist that believes in *some* feminist issues.

EDIT:

See Rio Madeira's answer above. SHE is a feminist.