Are you a feminist?

[Augustus]

Are you? Many people seem to disagree about the use of this label. Let's see how people use it toward themselves.

[booksaremysexlife]

Feminist is equality. People misunderstand the meaning of it. It does NOT mean woman want all the power. Feminism is equality for all genders, binary and non-binary.

[Notte stellata]

Depends on the context. In a place like AVEN (mostly Western, liberal-leaning), I usually don't call myself a feminist. Although feminism essentially means gender equality, which few people disagree with, there are different interpretations of gender equality and various ideas derived from it. I don't identify with the modern Western feminism because I don't agree with some of their common claims (e.g. rape culture).

[Augustus]

Feminist is equality. People misunderstand the meaning of it. It does NOT mean woman want all the power. Feminism is equality for all genders, binary and non-binary.

I myself always found this odd. If it's about equality for all, no exceptions or favorites played, why is named after women? I've just never been able to get past that, especially since a lot of feminists blow up at the use of the word "man" in anything.

[Human_001]

Feminist used to mean equality for all, through the advancement in women's rights (IMO). Unfortunately, misandrists and other assholes have warped the word and made it a term synonymous with hating men. I would call myself a feminists, if it wasn't for the fear of being grouped in with a bunch of man-haters.

Similarly, the word "Gay" use to mean "Happy". At some point society turned it in to a word to identify homosexuals. Some use the word to describe something as "lame" or "flamboyant".

My point is, the meaning of words change constantly. I don't identify as anything because I know in a few months or a year the label will change and mean something else. I don't identify with a label, I identify with my beliefs. How do I label my beliefs? Simple. I don't. I believe certain (not all) men have made embarrassing attempts to represent women in media. I believe women are capable of fighting for their own causes, but may appreciate the help from another gender from time to time.

Honestly, gender doesn't mean anything anyway. I started looking at everyone as gender neutral. It's easier that way and IMO more humane. Instead of seeing a man abusing a woman, I see a person abusing a person. Instead of a woman being paid less for the same amount of work, I see a person being paid less. It just makes life easier, IMO.

[Skycaptain]

I voted other, because I'm egalitarian. All people whatever gender race or any other differentiating feature should be treated equally, nuff said

[allrightalready]

i am a feminist and have been so for decades, i refuse submit to the demands to "relabel" our fight for equality. an oppressor always wants the ones they oppress to be "gentler" about their demands to be seen as equals

[DannyFenton123]

Feminist for sure. I believe in equality for all genders :P

[Anthracite_Impreza]

I can't decide. I'm all for equality but feminism has such a bad rap I don't know I'd ever identify as anything other than "everyone should be treated with respect and equality".

[deltaX]

I said it depends. First of all, people tend to interpret feminism differently, and I only really identify with it if it's being used to describe people who want both men and women (and everyone in-between) to be treated equally. Secondly, I think even people who agree on that often disagree on how to actually go about creating gender equality. I won't go into too much detail because I don't want to start a debate, but often I have much different ideas than most women about how to make things more equal.

[coyearth]

Feminist is equality. People misunderstand the meaning of it. It does NOT mean woman want all the power. Feminism is equality for all genders, binary and non-binary.

I myself always found this odd. If it's about equality for all, no exceptions or favorites played, why is named after women? I've just never been able to get past that, especially since a lot of feminists blow up at the use of the word "man" in anything.

It's called feminism because when the first feminist movement started, it was during a time when women were obviously inferior to men (ie women were often compared to animals or furniture, objects rather than people). The idea of feminism back then was the raise women up to be equal to men. The name has stuck, though the ideas behind it have evolved. Today, feminism should be the idea that everyone should be equal, despite sex, gender, race, sexuality, economic status, etc.

With that being said, I will always identify as a feminist. I will not back down and say I'm not someone whp believes in equality because some people don't understand what the word feminist actually means.

[Augustus]

As many already point out here on AVEN and elsewhere, though, terms for what feminism has become already exist, like egalitarianism. It just seems like a more technically correct term to use. That is all I am saying.

[Sally]

Feminism is what it's always been: a movement that attempts to gain for women the same rights that men have had. Until the world (and I mean the world, including Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, not just the US and UK) recognizes women as true equals, feminism will exist.

People who are afraid to use the term because they don't want to be considered "man-haters" or some such nonsense are just giving in to prejudice. Having loved a husband and then a longterm partner and having several good male friends, I'm no man-hater.

[daveb]

Yes, I do consider myself a feminist, because I support equal rights (for all). I like the old quote "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people". Like Sally says, feminism will exist (and rightly so) as long as women are not recognized as true equals. Things have gotten better, but there's still a long way to go.

[Iggy]

I want a world that guarantees freedom, equality and justice for everyone, and support, or am at least sympathetic to, any cause or movement working towards that end including feminism, but I personally don't identify as a feminist or most other ists. If pushed I might say I'm some kind of libertarian socialist or perhaps an anarchist without adjectives.

A problem for me with saying I'm a feminist, while supporting it's goals, is that I'm not sure I'm convinced by a lot of feminist theory, like the idea that gender is the root cause of all our problems. At the beginning of the nineteenth century a lot of people thought race was the issue. Get rid of the idea of race and everything would be perfect. Later in the nineteenth century it was class that was the problem. This continued up to middle of the twentieth century when race was again the issue. Now we are being told it's all about gender. Get rid of gender and we will be living in utopia. I agree that race, class and gender, as well as other things such as heteronormativity, are all problems that need to be dealt with if we want to be free, but I'm not sure any one of them is the root cause of all our problems.

[Guest]

No, I'm not a feminist. I support gender equality, but I very much disapprove of using a term that roots in "female" to describe equality for all genders.

[MarieIsEatingTacobell]

Yes, I'm a proud feminist ♥

[Robin L]

As much as you would argue that feminism is for gender equality, the word has been used by too many communities that support misandry. To use the word feminism can imply both cases.

There is a phrase that strictly describes gender equality, and that is "gender equality".

[allrightalready]

I want a world that guarantees freedom, equality and justice for everyone, and support, or am at least sympathetic to, any cause or movement working towards that end including feminism, but I personally don't identify as a feminist or most other ists. If pushed I might say I'm some kind of libertarian socialist or perhaps an anarchist without adjectives.

A problem for me with saying I'm a feminist, while supporting it's goals, is that I'm not sure I'm convinced by a lot of feminist theory, like the idea that gender is the root cause of all our problems. At the beginning of the nineteenth century a lot of people thought race was the issue. Get rid of the idea of race and everything would be perfect. Later in the nineteenth century it was class that was the problem. This continued up to middle of the twentieth century when race was again the issue. Now we are being told it's all about gender. Get rid of gender and we will be living in utopia. I agree that race, class and gender, as well as other things such as heteronormativity, are all problems that need to be dealt with if we want to be free, but I'm not sure any one of them is the root cause of all our problems.

not everyone who calls themself feminist is a gender abolitionist (TERF), in fact they are a tiny minority (and i am not convinced that those few are not actually paid by someone just to undermine the real movement)

[Auran]

I say that sexual harassment, gender discrimination, sexual assault, domestic abuse, domestic violence and rape should never be trivialised, blamed on the victim or treated as a joke. Some would call me a feminist, some would call me an MRA, others a gender egalitarian, and some would just call me a pussy.

Maybe it's because I've seen too much stupidity on Youtube and in real life, but I gave up on trying to label myself a while back. That said, I would heartily recommend Emma Watson's speech to the UN about feminism, because she focused on the gender expectations that make life much harder than it needs to be these days.

[River_Gem]

Feminist is equality. People misunderstand the meaning of it. It does NOT mean woman want all the power. Feminism is equality for all genders, binary and non-binary.

Agreed. And I think, like asexuality, it has been misrepresented and poorly defined. If there's more awareness about how important the original, basic definition is, a lot of the negativity can be removed. But I also think it's important to continue mentioning that, yes, "fem" is in the word because, in a lot of counties/cultures, feminine representations/women are less valued and discriminated against. But that doesn't mean that feminism doesn't help all other genders too! But it's not bad to focus on the most common problem.

[FoxPotato]

I've grown to stop caring whether someone follows the dictionary definition of feminism, and quite frankly, I'm all for equality but...

We need to face the fact that the ideology has been highjacked by lunatics that don't understand what the hell they're even talking about. I'm probably going to get a ton of flak for this, but in western culture, feminism has turned into a cult that promotes false/extremely exaggerated "facts" for their own benefit. Is sexism/racism/etc still a problem? Yes, of course it is. But as I see it, it will NEVER go away, so long as we have distinct differences between us.

That's also not to say that they don't have valid points, but the vast majority of them can be debunked with common sense really.

If you have opposing views, or just wanna discuss, PM me or something, I love discussing this topic with open minds!

[arthurh]

I try to promote equalism now. I seen some feminist refuse to accept some men, lgbt community members(I know this is redundant) and even trans women (and other genders) as feminist and instead shame them. This made me completely change my views on the label as a whole. I want equality for all not a one sided movement :l. Yes im aware not all feminist are like this but I have seen this way too many times to the point where I will not support it.

[Midnight Star]

If feminism wasn't taken over by loons, then I would support them. But that isn't the case.

Also I find it strange that many self proclaimed feminists get mad at me when I don't give them my chair, hold the door for them, let them cut in line, pay for them on dates, etc. And when I explain to them that their gender doesn't mean they are entitled to be treated a certain way, they just get even more angry. Equality my ass.

[RK800]

Technically yes though I prefer the term egalitarian.

[(A) & A]

Yes, technically. I agree with the core tenets on feminism. But there are some feminists who take the ideology to an almost religious extreme. Same reason, that while I try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, I don't like to say "I'm a Christian".

[LenaLuthor]

I am egalitarian.

[girltwink666]

yes and i dont trust anyone who aint

[Salted Karamel]

By definition of what the word "feminist" actually means—or is "supposed to" mean—I am a feminist. And if egalitarianism is the equality of all people and feminism is the pursuit of gender equality via the specific focus of improving women's rights, then feminism is a branch of egalitarianism. I identify as both... privately, at least.

However, when people ask me "Are you a feminist?" I first ask them to define for me what that word means to them. Yes, I am a "feminist" as I understand the word, but if they're someone who thinks that feminism = misandry or feminism = female supremacy, I am not going to waste time arguing for my definition of the word with that person. It's an issue of prescriptive linguistics vs. descriptive linguistics and I'd much rather simply identify with my beliefs in question rather than cling to a word.

...Besides, in my experience, people who believe that feminism is misandry and/or female supremacy often seem to delight in asking people point blank to identify with "feminism" so they can lure them into a semantic trap and launch an "oh so then you believe in _________" argument against them, and I am really not interested in being lured into arguments with people who are trying to set me up as their punching bag. If they're legitimately interested in my actual beliefs and not in getting me to answer "yes/no" to a label that is supposed to describe those beliefs (yet is not foolproof at doing so), they should have no problem in having a discussion of my beliefs regarding gender equality instead of the label itself.

I am not "afraid" to identify as a feminist. But I am not interested in being lured into semantic traps.

[Lixt]

TERFs are not gender abolitionists though, quite the opposite. They are a bunch of cissexist bigots.

I'm a feminist, yeah.

As for the endless equality debate. Equality is feminism's end, not the means. You can't reach equality by waking up in 2016 (or even 1950) and starting to give everyone equally while ignoring how the ressources were shared up until that point. That's "being nice", not "being fair". So, yes, uplifting and special attention to mend some gaps needs to happen. Gender has such a gap, still today. But it's not the only one.