Should we give up on the word "feminism"?

Question

After watching this board for a few weeks, I am boggled by the degree to which it seems to conjure up an image of rabid female supremacists for many people. Is this at all representative of the population? Is the word beyond rescue? Should we call ourselves something else (equalists, human rights activists, whatever) if we want to be able to have a rational discussion about fairness and equality without the issue being clouded by what people imagine that we, as feminists, believe? Or do you think that the word is still useful?

Answer 1

That is a great idea.

Answer 2

No, I'm proud of it. I don't care what the misinformed, the neurotic, the misogynistic or the inferiority-complex-laden (take your pick from the examples below me) think of the term. That is their problem, not mine.

Answer 3

We can't give up the word, "feminist" because it has historical significance, even if it is outdated now. Feminists did a lot for women. We should really honor them, because we can vote and have almost any job we want now. In the past, women had to fight hard for the rights we take for granted today. That is why they seem militant. People don't give away rights for free. People have to fight for their rights, no matter what their "minority," because someone, somewhere is benefiting from their servitude.

Answer 4

Feminists should stop using the word equality.  The non man-hating world can see that feminism and equality have nothing in common.

Answer 5

No, why? Because the word would lose it's true meaning and it's power. The reason why their is so much confusion in these issues is the complex relationships between men and women, husband and wife, boyfrinf and girlfriend, members of the LGBTQ community and their partners.

Whenever you have something completely different on one side of the table with entirely different thought patterns on the other side of the table nauraly a conflict will occur.

Look back at your childhood days when boys and girls split up and played with each other, boys played rough and tumble contact sports, girls played other contact sports, or talked more than biys do because they were not afraid to engage in social conversations as boys were.

Now, when you have the concept of "fem-i-nism" the part of the word fem-i-nis comes close to feminize, so some men feel threatened that by admitting to themselves they are feminists, they somehow are becomed feminizied and being less than a man. How is this possible? Even if a man wants to wear a skirt, kilt, sunndress, decides to wear make-up he is still a man, isn't her? If that same man doesn't have a s*x change, he is still a man, right?

So when I read what makes a man "manly?" or do women get to decide if a man is manly or a real man, what does that all mean? Even if the man is g*y, even though there is nothing wrong with that, he is still a man, a g*y man but still a man. Right?

Answer 6

You need to ditch the term 'feminist' like German national socialists need to ditch the term 'n**i'.

However, the man-haters will not get away with just a slick name change e.g. the Equality Minister in the UK (second in power to the UKs leader) is  clearly a feminist of the worst kind:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/pol...

But the bottom line is that the term feminism has be associated with anti-male ideology for so long that to expect anyone to understand it in any other terms is a bit far-fetched e.g. see Section 1 here http://www.freewebs.com/feminism-evaluat...

Answer 7

Yes, please! I think the semantics of labels do more to divide people than unite them, because they automatically set people against each other before they've even heard each other's views. If everyone who believed in equality called themselves equalists - or better yet, if each individual defined themselves by their beliefs rather than by a subjective label - I think many of the feminists and anti-feminists would find a common ground.  

Answer 8

You can call it whatever you want Tracey, misinformed, neurotic, misogynistic or the inferiority-complex-laden, but in practice the dicitionary can define a word as whatever it wants, the understood and accepted meaning is going to be whatever the general populace believes it is...

It would amount to about the same as what was mentioned regarding the word "g*y". If you went about telling everyone you were g*y, everyone is merely going to believe that you are a L*****n not that you are generally a happy person.

I'd rather be able to communicate my thoughts properly to others, then take some small comfort in that my usage of a word is technically correct by the standard of an out of date dictionary definition...

Misanthrope, your metaphor doesn't apply. The argument is not whether people agree with feminism, but as to the confusion over what it even means these days to be a feminist. There is no confusion if you said you were a veteran of the US army. You are referring to having been a soldier. However, imagine if the definition of a veteran of the US army became blurred. It became understood to include any person that took an active role in military issues, including politicians, doctors, military lawyers, nurses, reserves that never saw action, recreationists, etc. You would likely stop using that term and refer to yourself in some other manner to distinguish the difference between your being a soldier from the watered down term would you not ?

Answer 9

A rose is still a rose.... except this rose stinks.

Women's Studies courses have changed their name in many universities to 'Gender Studies' in an attempt to get people interested again after decades of decline. People (women particularly) are sick of middle-aged sob sisters whining about being oppressed when in fact they're the most privileged class in history.

Answer 10

I'm with Tracey!    

Answer 11

We could change the word to "ice cream," it frankly doesn't matter.  The issue at hand is that it's still a hateful ideology that people seem to cling on to.

Answer 12

It's just a word.

If you want to change it's meaning, change the association of the word.

However, I don't think you need to do that either. You are

fighting strongly about what you believe in and it's uncommon.

People are going to misinterpret it no matter what you call it.

I say keep doing what you are doing.

However, tell the feminists that are extremely angry to calm down

a little.

They are messing it up for you all.

No different from the Black Panthers. They had a good cause until

some of the folks were a bit too "devoted" and very angry. Then

the association with the word changed.

The group still exists but they have changed the way they do things.

They are still called Black Panthers too.

So, don't give up. I'm rooting for all of you.

Answer 13

No, I quite like it. Besides, according to its correct meaning I AM a feminist. Just as I am an Englishwoman.

The whining anti-feminists would continue to whine if we all called ourselves something else anyway. Many of them are not interested in constructive discussion. If they were they would be less concerned with what we call ourselves and more concerned with the points we raise.

Answer 14

It's interesting that both self-proclaimed feminists and anti-feminists agree on the same goals. But to feminists, it's classical feminism; to antis, it's equalism. And the antis often lament how feminism used to be a force for good.

Answer 15

Well, Hm, I really think the word is somewhat outdated - Feminist has changed over time although it still represents the same basic values.

The problem is, the word is stigmatised by people who don't understand what it's meaning. There are still some men who insist feminism is about hating men. In my experience, women are very supportive of men across the board in general. In fact, I would venture to say women tend to be MORE supportive of men than men are of women, and often sacrifice more, for men! In Australia, it seems like men support men, and women support men....

The thing is, when other minority groups have fought for equality, (blacks, g**s) it comes under the name of human rights 'equalists', so why do women have to have their own seperate category?

The word feminism implies a seperate group of radical women segregated from the general female group. It creates an easy target for 'bashing' by people who don't understand it and are attempting to stigmatise it further because it suits them to be bullies.

So yes, if other equal rights groups don't have a specific name that segregates them and pinpoints them as targets, then why should women?

Answer 16

I am a veteran of the US Army and that can be looked down on by some; but I wouldn't change what I call myself.  I am not for the war but that does not mean I am against fighting for my country.  I am a feminist I know what that means for me.  I am an equalist, a humanist, an animal activist, a libertarian, pro-choice, and more.  I won't change how I see myself because others insult it.  They are not the people who matter most and the people who do matter know me and they don't have a problem if I identify myself with a group or if I choose to identify with it even though I don't agree to the whole of it.  Anyone who judges me for choosing my own words for describing me is not worth my time because they can't take the time to get to know all of me.

When did we decide it was okay for others to bully us?  When did we decide to sit down and behave like good little girls because others told us to?

Cloud: I wouldn't!  I would continue to identify myself to the truest term of the word while speaking out to correct the confusion of others (typically against it) claiming that it meant something else in a pathetic attempt to shame me into abandoning who I am and enable them to erase such history.

As for the ones that talk about other groups not having seperate chapters specifically for their cause your wrong.  We are all human activist and some of us all join seperate chapters as well that focus on what really matters to us.

Answer 17

The word 'feminist' is still useful in the same way the word 'n**i' is still useful.

Those who identify as n***s can be easily identified as can people like Tracey when she uses the word 'feminist' to hide behind.

If you see yourself as an equalist then that is something altogether more positive.

Answer 18

I think the problem is that people are not in agreement as to what the term "feminist" means.  There seems to be "eco-feminism," "liberal feminism," "anarchist feminism," "socialist feminism," "individualist feminism," etc....  There appears to be different goals associated to each type.  I think that "human rights activists" or "equal rights activists" does well in identifying those working towards equal rights and human rights for women...