I took a women's history class and the textbook had a definition like "a feminist is a person who believes in and supports the social,ecomomic, and political equality of women."
It might have been just "a woman" but I'm prett sure it was person. And works toward in there after support.
My own definition of feminist is a person who believes in and suppprts equality for everyone. Because mainly I believe on equality and I don't think I could only be for some women .
Also the I'm not a feminist bit wpmen seem to buy into a very narrow view of femimist. It's hairy man hating women. Or you can't like make up/vintage clothes/doll collecting/whatever and be a feminist.
One of the big divisions I see people bumping into in common feminist discussions is choice feminism. A visible number of people identifying themselves as feminists do not support the idea of choice so far as to 100% support women staying at home and raising children, or wearing heels and corsets, or doing other typically feminine things. If they make enough noise and make it seem like you can't do that and be feminist (which is a far cry from the unreality of the hairy-legged man-hating feminist, because these women I can actually spot in the wild quite frequently), I'm not surprised to see people separate themselves from the cause.
I would say the number of feminist who don't support that are pretty small. I think a larger number of feminists would support that choice, but not confine it to women - that is they are also fine with men staying home and raising children or wearing heels and corsets, or doing whatever "typically feminine things" they choose.
Which is not news to anyone on this list where men in corsets and heels are kind of a continuing theme.
I would say the number of feminist who don't support that are pretty small
But that's what the 80-20 rule is about. Trust me--any post that touches on a topic like that on Gawker or Jezebel, and they're out, making noise, and talking about how the legacy of the patriarchal oppression and bullshit bullshit bullshit. They're loud, and they can be overwhelming.
Oh, hey. Jezebel just put up a choice feminist article: [link] responding to a "heels are anti-feminist" article in the Chicago Trib, apparently. I haven't had a chance to read it in detail yet. Thought it was funny and timely, though.
As a currently hairy-legged (but not man-hating) woman, can I just say that I fucking hate the fact that I have to shave my legs to be considered "professionally dressed" even in a laid-back place like a library. Signed, still putting off the Great Spring Shave despite the fact that it's been 80 all week and I am running out of pants. Why can't we have the right to choose not to shave without being considered a freak?
Timelies all!
Wish I could get away with not shaving my legs.Ok, I am wearing jeans or chinos most of the time, so nobody sees my legs but me and my husband most days, but I've been doing this since I was 12 so I'm used to it. (Also, pale skin and dark hair not a good combination on the legs, IMO.)
As a currently hairy-legged (but not man-hating) woman, can I just say that I fucking hate the fact that I have to shave my legs to be considered "professionally dressed" even in a laid-back place like a library. Signed, still putting off the Great Spring Shave despite the fact that it's been 80 all week and I am running out of pants.
I'm not hairy-legged! I shaved yesterday for the first time in months.
This is not to your point, but I'll take the somewhat occasional leg shaving over daily face shaving that most men endure. (Not that they have to. But the face grooming seems more onerous, generally speaking.
I would say the number of feminist who don't support that are pretty small
I will say as someone who presents EXTREMELY femme, people get very surprised that I am a feminist, and I have had many, many other women tell me that I'm "too girly" to be a "real" feminist.
