Feminists Unfortunately, When One Hears the Word

Feminists

Unfortunately, when one hears the word "feminist," it is frequently in a derogatory context. From the ultra-derogatory use of the epitaph "feminazi" to describe working women, to those men and women who, while declaring feminist ideals, protest the use of that label to describe themselves, there is a taint associated with the word feminist that makes one querulous about self-identifying as a feminist (Crown). However, I understand that the reasons that the word feminist is considered tainted are the very same reasons that it is important for any person concerned with universal civil rights and liberties to be a feminist. Therefore, I proudly consider myself a feminist.

Declaring myself a feminist, begs the question, "Well, what is a feminist?" Ironically, that is a difficult question to answer and depends whom is being asked the question. To those that fear a disruption in power and family relationships will result from true equality, the goal of feminism is to elevate the female above the male in society. I disagree with that definition of feminism. Instead, I find myself drawn to a definition of feminism I encountered on Wikipedia, which stated that:

feminism is a grass-roots movement that seeks to cross boundaries based on social class, race, culture, and religion; is culturally specific and addresses issues relevant to the women of that society (for example female circumcision in Sudan or the glass ceiling in developed economies); and debate the extent to which certain issues, such as rape, incest, and mothering, are universal. (Wikipedia).

While I agree that feminism speaks directly to issues that are relevant to women, there is nothing in that definition that speaks to the elevation of either sex over the other.

In this way, I believe in equity feminism, as defined by Christina Sommers. According to Sommers, equity feminism is the classic form of feminism, which took a humanistic approach and advocated equality of the sexes (Sommers, p. 22). In contrast, many modern feminists speak of feminist advocacy in terms generally used to describe war, warn of an "impending male backlash," and take positions that pit the sexes against one another, rather than working towards harmony (Sommers, p. 20). Being a human being first, I believe that a humanistic approach to any civil rights issue is the only appropriate and logical approach that I can take. Being a male, I am aware that there are some societal structures that favor me because of my gender, but I am unable to endorse any theories of feminism that automatically render me an oppressor simply by referral to my genitalia. For those reasons, I am an equity feminist.