Why I am Not a Feminist, or “My Anti-Feminist Manifesto”

[102bb]

READ IT ALL. 1. Being a woman, and being a woman of color, and being a Muslim, I choose to not be a feminist or in any way have the term feminist applied to my person, my choices, my thoughts, my writings or my art. I reserve the right to self-identify as I see fit and to define myself in relation to my culture and my ideals. I do not wish to take

Comments

[popehippo]

And now for the real post.

Whatever people want to call themselves, fine. But I guess my thoughts are that women who exclude other women because of their race/religion/being a homemaker versus in the workforce/etc are not real feminists. At the core, my belief is that feminism isn't about putting women on top or making all women the same, like a lot of people seem to think about it. That you have to fit certain fits to be able to call yourself that or not call yourself that.

I've always felt that feminism is the fight for ALL our choices. Feminism needs to be about the freedom of all. Freedom of family planning, lifestyle, sexuality, love, style, religion, expression, the whole fucking shebang. All the rest are details. Any 'feminist' who doesn't support someone, whether they identify as one or not, whatever gender they may be, for whatever reason is not a real feminist in my eyes. Any 'feminist' who puts down anyone because of their color, class, religion, etc is detrimental to society and their own stupid self.

I believe any woman -- shit, any decent human being -- can fall under the title of feminist. Do you think a person, regardless of gender, deserves to be treated with love and respect? Cool beans. You're a feminist to me. And if you don't want to be called that still, then okay.

[colorless_ideas]

thank you for putting into words what i couldn't.

[skippyelephant]

Yes. It's such a shame that anyone would feel alienated by feminism.

[102bb]

Feminism isn't just about holding hands and ~accepting choices, no matter what the outcomes of those choices might be. Feminism is as much a political statement as it is a personal doctrine. And race is definitely a political issue. You can't take such a passive stance in regards to such issues because change requires active participation and critiques and hell, even anger.

You're a feminist to me. And if you don't want to be called that still, then okay.
But... no. If you don't want to be called a feminist, why not? What can I do to strengthen the movement and make you feel welcome?

[popehippo]

I agree that racism is a huge issue within feminism, and needs to be addressed just as much as any other issue, because it affects everyone. Alot of issues affect feminism, religion, economy, culture, pretty much everything that can happen to us in life affects feminism, I think.

I guess the bottom line for me is that feminism needs to stop being "IF YOU'RE NOT THIS THIS AND THIS, OR IF YOU'RE THAT AND THAT AND THAT, THEN YOU'RE NOT A *REAL* FEMINIST" because it's bullshit and doesn't fix anything. Acknowledging that there need to be multiple efforts for multiple issues is the way to go.

[ennifer_jay]

Your last sentence is best. Unfortunately I must negate the sentence before it. I don't feel that one can adequately define themselves as a feminist if they only fight for the rights of certain women. And by ignoring, or even not acknowledging, the intersections of race, religion, etc., then you're not adequately recognizing/acknowledging/appreciating/including their experiences. Does that make sense?

[popehippo]

I think so, and I think I may have worded myself badly on that one, sorry! I didn't mean to say that we should just focus entirely on one issue without realizing how they all affect each other. You pretty much said it for me; we need to realize that so many issues tie into each other, and you can't hope to fix one without fixing the other.

[nothingbutgold]

If you don't want to be called a feminist, why not? What can I do to strengthen the movement and make you feel welcome?

yes, this. so much better than "well FUCK YOU for deserting our movement we're going to go cry some white women's tears wahhhh"

[ennifer_jay]

I've always felt that feminism is the fight for ALL our choices.

I wish that was the truth. Unfortunately, it's not. Feminism has long been a racist movement, I'm afraid, and consistently has ignored WOC in the movement. :(

[popehippo]

Mrr, maybe I should clarify. Waaaaah I fail at words. @.@

Feminism as it SHOULD be should be about all our choices, and being free from fear or disrespect

Feminism as it is NOW is most definitely a movement with issues, because it originated with privileged white women fighting for their own rights. It's come forward in huge strides but, at least for the U.S., it's still a fairly recent upheaval compared to the rest of our history, and most of it seems to be focused on little fixes that will only help us temporarily.

Feminism DOES need to be more fixated on the underlying problems of classism and racism and ableism that allows the culture to cause the problems that tend to be noticed more. Until we can help fix the cause of the entire problem, then putting bandaids over anything that pops up is futile.

[ennifer_jay]

Exactly. :)

It's okay. If I had a penny everytime I had word vomit, I wouldn't be taking out college loans.... ;P