What does Feminism mean to you?

[Erin C]

Many of you have expressed discomfort with the label feminist because of its weighted history. So, please share what it means to you!

I understand that this could be a one sentence answer to a full blown doctoral thesis. Just tell me what's on your mind. I'm going to work on my answer to this and get back to you.

- Erin

[Marnie]

As there are so many facets to the broad concept of feminism, I have always thought of feminism as primarily the right for any woman to make choices about her own life. It's such a complex issue because it isn't merely a matter of legislated equal opportunity although that is a big piece of the puzzle, but it is more deeply a matter of paradigm, of philosophy. Both women and men experience life and observe society, listen to the stories of antiquity and are afforded the opportunity to mentally process this data equally. However, not all minds extrapolate the same meaning from these data. The statistics about the labor force, wages, domestic violence and rape, for exapmle, fail to paint precisely the same picture to each person who becomes aware of them. Women, through sufferage, won the right to vote, however not all women chose to exercise that right immediately following that legislative change. Why? Myriad reasons. She may have had a fear of being identified as a difficult or inconvenient woman, which may well have narrowed or eliminated one's opportunities for a suitable marriage mate, which would drastically affect a woman's life socially and financially. Her male guardian (i.e. husband, father, uncle, patron, employer) may have objected to her excercising her right to vote. These subtleties of the realities of daily life proliferate today, though via different issues than sufferage. It is my belief that when a majority of minds, both male and female, truly and deeply, even in the private recesses of thier inner consciousness, embrace the philosophy of equality, then feminism will, as a movement, have enjoyed a great success. It's complex too, because money and class are also so deeply intertwined with feminist issues. A little girl born into wealth and priviledge is often afforded a very different set of choices about her education, relationships, employment, recreation, etc. than is a girl born into a middle class family, a working class family or a family living well below the poverty line. They may share ideas about what it means to be a "good girl" and yet they may internalize very different expectations about thier lives. A boy or girl who sees thier mother being physically abused will internalize this as somehow acceptable, at least possible simply because they have witnessed it. They may not internalize it as good or right, but possible. This is then carried into adult relationships where it may replay in a victim or an offender role... whereas a child who never witnessed this may find the idea inconceivable, shocking, impossible. Believing domestic abuse to be inconcievable is then carried forward in that life to adult relationships which may play out very differently, and spawn more empowered choices if faced with such abuse. These are just examples of why I feel that feminism is first and foremost about what we very privately value, what we learn and what we teach about the value of life, of diversity, of individuality, and of the right of all people to choose. That power of choice is the greatest power imaginable, affecting choices of employment, relationships, fertility, procreation, sexuality, etc. Teaching our children and thus our population as a whole to believe in that power of personal choice is key to the fundamental precepts of feminism, in my opinion.

[Pat]

It means not allowing misogyny to discount the value of women in the world, or in the household, or in the workplace. Women are too valuable to be trivialized and discounted for the purpose of mainaining male authority.

[Stephanie]

To me, a feminist label is a badge of honor. I wear it proudly as I make choices in my life made available to me by the movement.
I have always hated that if you wanted to call yourself a feminist then it meant you shouldn't want to be a "girl". I played with Barbies, played dress up and I loved it, and yet I still knew that women need to be treated as equals.
I have one daughter I encourage in her love of competitive soccer and equally encourage my other daughter who wants to be a cheerleader. Being feminine, and being a feminist are not polar opposites. I want my daughters to know that what was fought for was the basic human right of having choice in this world.
I have never understand why wanting rights was a bad thing for women?

[Arcadia]

To me, the term feminist means one who wants to promote the values of women as opposed to the values of men. That these two interest might be mutually exclusive is proof that a label to define the differences is still necessary.

I read with interest recently the book The Case for Father Custody by Daniel Amneus, and found it to the most honestly written defense of patriarchy I have ever encountered. For the first time, I was able to glean an understanding of the true values and justifications for patriarchy, undisguised by any attempt to appear politically correct.

Mr. Amneus readily reveals that the true aim of patriarchy is to establish ownership of women and children as the chattel of men, thereby ensuring an orderly and acceptable society. I never fully appreciated that the greatest fear of men -- by far -- is the "free" woman. A woman who is free to accept or reject sexual partners, engage is sexual activity free from consequence, and determine when and whether she will give birth to children.

What is noticeably absent from any of the patriarchal/mysogynist dialogue is even the briefest acknowledgement or reference to the kind of world that might exist if men, in fact, completely ceased to exercise the power and control they so desperately claim to need. The truth is that many men have taken that great leap of faith -- and lived to tell the tale. They are engaged in real, authenticate and honest relationships with women who defy the dictates of patriarchy. Women with whom they have mutual respect and equality.

The great fear of other men is that uncontrolled women will lead to a breakdown of all societal values, that women desire nothing but wanton sex and irresponsibility. What a concept! And what a lie. If feminism evolves in any way in the 21st century, I would like to see it evolve into an intelligent response to the patriarchal male irrationality. My response to the assertion that single-mother households are responsible for nearly all the ills of society is this:

It is not the absence of good fathers that accounts for juvenile delinquency, it is the presence of bad ones.

[Power and Stilettos]

This is part of an entry on my blog geared towards young, interesting, intelligent women who don't share the traditional definitions of feminism:

I have a unique take on feminism and therefore life in general, my career etc... I look to the left and I see the stereotype of the man-hating lesbian in flannel and Doc Martens. I look to the right and I see women like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears (it pains me that they're even mentioned in my first blog....this isn't a celebrity gossip site, however from time to time I might like to point out a few of their......quirks) who portray women as ditzy and unable to manage their own lives and success. Those are the options ladies, sign up now! Dyke or Ditz. Please politely put yourselves into one of the two groups so that society knows exactly how to deal with you.

I'm a feminist and I wear high heels. So what? I believe that women have the ability to take ownership and control of our lives, our bodies, our appearances, and the markets in which we profit. To me being a feminist means having the courage to stand up for myself as a human being, and for others who may not be able to do the same. It means having the power to choose how I dress, speak, act, and work, and doing it for myself, not the masses. I believe that the last leap for feminism is convincing women to simply stop entertaining any oppression. Just be, and the rest of the world will eventually catch on.

You can read the rest on my blog, called Power and Stilettos at http://powerandstilettos.blogspot.com

[Marion]

Oh, distilling that down is a great idea.


I realize and honor the differences between the genders, believing that those differences should not limit the potential of either.

How's that? 20 words!

[Sense & Sensuality]

What does Feminism mean? Please access Google Group's discussion board at http://groups.google.com/group/sense_sensuality/browse_thread/threa...