I think it's your definition of radical that's causing you problems. Radical is taken to mean extreme and obscene in certain arenas however its use in the term "radical feminism" is quite specific i.e. going to the root, which is the historical meaning of the word: in radical feminism's case - the root of patriarchal oppression.
"Radical 1398 (adj.), in a medieval philosophical sense, from L.L. radicalis "of or having roots," from L. radix (gen. radicis) "root" (see radish). Meaning "going to the origin, essential" is from 1651. Political sense of "reformist" (via notion of "change from the roots") is first recorded 1802 (n.), 1820 (adj.), of the extreme section of the British Liberal party (radical reform had been a current phrase since 1786); meaning "unconventional" is from 1921. U.S. youth slang use is from 1983, from 1970s surfer slang meaning "at the limits of control." Radical chic is attested from 1970."
yeah, that's definitely the problem. i've always considered radical to mean "extreme" or "at the limits of control", which is funny, because now that I see that def., I see that that's the one that anti-feminists subscribe to. so, as per my other reply, I'm going to refer to myself as a postmodernist feminist, although I hope there is a better designation. after reading an excerpt in Kant scathing neologists, I'm not really willing to coin phrases so readily.
haha, jacques derrida would love that site. he had all sorts of neologisms, his most famous being differance, followed by trace, cinders, and dissemination.
"Radical
1398 (adj.), in a medieval philosophical sense, from L.L. radicalis "of or having roots," from L. radix (gen. radicis) "root" (see radish). Meaning "going to the origin, essential" is from 1651. Political sense of "reformist" (via notion of "change from the roots") is first recorded 1802 (n.), 1820 (adj.), of the extreme section of the British Liberal party (radical reform had been a current phrase since 1786); meaning "unconventional" is from 1921. U.S. youth slang use is from 1983, from 1970s surfer slang meaning "at the limits of control." Radical chic is attested from 1970."
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=radical
I'm quite liking that it shares its etymological roots with radish!
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yeah, that's definitely the problem. i've always considered radical to mean "extreme" or "at the limits of control", which is funny, because now that I see that def., I see that that's the one that anti-feminists subscribe to. so, as per my other reply, I'm going to refer to myself as a postmodernist feminist, although I hope there is a better designation. after reading an excerpt in Kant scathing neologists, I'm not really willing to coin phrases so readily.
I have to work on my clarity damnit!
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http://cat.nyu.edu/cgi-bin/wickedary/index.cgi?
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