Feminism is about gender equality. If you are a person who believes in equality of all genders, then you are a feminist. There’s no way around it. It is what it is.
If you are someone who says that they are not a feminist, then that means that you don’t believe in or support equality. It means that you think that there has to be a gender that has more rights, opportunities and power over the others, and that you are okay with that.
Someone once told me that they believed in everything that feminism stood for, but did not want to call themselves one because of the negative connotation that came with it. So…what you’re saying is that you’re letting other people determine how you define yourself? You’re saying that instead of supporting and educating people about the movement that you believe in, you’re just going to let people continue to believe that its worthless?
Why? What is it about the word feminism that makes people freak out? Is it because of those first three letters? Why is that people see fem- and they start to run in the opposite direction? If you are one of those people, then you’re actually making the problem worse by shying away from a word that has the same beginning as female or feminine by thinking that being associated with those words is somehow insulting.
Combating feminism by claiming to be a “humanist” or “equalist” does nothing but reinforce the false assumptions that people have about feminism. So, if you want to claim that you are not a feminist, that is your choice. However, you need to understand what that actually means. It has nothing to do with hating men, burning bras, or trying to make women the “dominant” gender.
At the end of the day, if you are anti-feminist, then you are anti-equality and that says a lot about you as a person.
bookmarkchronicles 
I think you have a point but if a feminist wants to claim they are indeed females who are a humanist or equalist then you have to respect their opinion to define themselves in a way that makes them feel that sense of equality. I find the term feminist is an easy way to describe myself because I know that is is about equality and I’m not slamming men . I get what you are saying but times change and new words replace old ones and in a way that is kind of awesome that a term feminist can take take the fem- gender out of the equation and re place it with no gender or all genders. Just a thought. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. It is about perspective 🙂
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I never said that I didn’t respect the opinions of people who identify as humanist or equalist, but if their point is to promote equality of the genders then that doesn’t stop them from being feminist. Yes, times change but the meaning of the word feminist is still the same and using other words that mean the same thing aren’t yet known enough for the word to be completely replaced. I understand different perspectives. I am very aware that people have different opinions and that they are entitled to them and all of that is fine. However, for someone to say that they disagree with something simply because of the name of it, doesn’t help the message that is trying to be supported. If people choose not to identify as feminists I don’t have a problem with that but many of those people (at least in my personal experience) don’t actually know what the word actually means. I’m not attacking anyone, I’m also giving perspective.My personal perspective
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Reblogged this on The Melodramatic Confessions of Carla Louise.
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Thank you
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No problems!! It was great!! 🙂
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I’m wondering though if it’s a fair comment to say that someone who says s/he isn’t a “feminist” is automatically anti-feminist. I’m not a Muslim – does that make me automatically anti-Muslim? I would have to agree with Daisy Willows on this one, that we need a new “handle” to incorporate the fact that supporters of gender equality may not want to be known as feminists, especially if they are men. Personally, as far back as I can remember, even to heated debates in high school, I’ve always defended gender equality in the issues that really matter, issues of empowerment, issues of wage parity primarily, yet I’ve never thought of myself as a feminist. Actually I don’t like labels, especially “isms.”
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I never said that not being a feminist makes someone anti-feminist. I said that being anti-feminist makes them anti-equality. Also not liking a label still doesn’t mean that you don’t identify with it and as I said to Daisy many of the people who choose to shy away from the term feminism (at least in my experience) don’t know what it means. I disagree that there needs to a different name, instead it would much easier for people to start educating and supporting each other instead of shying away from a powerful movement simply because of the name and I gave reasons for why that could also be problematic
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