Is Feminism Still Relevant?
 

Where are all the millennial feminists? - CNN.com

I agree very much with this article. Believe it or not, I'm not sure if I should call myself a feminist. Sure, I believe in reproductive rights, equal pay, and women being treated with respect. But as this article points out, there are so many ways to define feminism that it can be very confusing. Some groups make slam women who choose to be stay-at-home moms, others want to ban pornography and strip clubs forever (note: I'm not too crazy about both but they are complex issues). Heck, some feminists say women should be domineering towards their male partners and reject any type of chivalry, even if a guy holds a door open for you on a date. If you don't agree with certain forms of feminism, you are not a real feminist then.

But then again, there are still many misogynists out there and not enough justice for rape victims. If some men hear the term "feminist" they think, "oh she's a lesbian who hates men" - and that can be a man of any age. There's even some women who despise feminists (Phyllis Schlafly, anyone?)Hence the reason why feminism is a term to be proud of because it tells those woman-haters to go to hell.

I don't think feminism has run its course because there is still work to be done, but it has gone in so many different directions that it is hard to pin point what is real feminism. So that's my attitude towards the term.

Thoughts?

Everyone seems to have different ideas of what a feminist is or should be. Most of these different definitions seem to come from people who will tell you're they're not feminists. Like Taylor Swift.

I happily call myself a feminist. Anyone who thinks that women should be treated equally should happily call themselves a feminist, too - men or women. (And "equal" covers a ginormous range of things.)

I don't let other people's misconceptions about feminism stop me from calling myself a feminist.

I'm a feminist and it will always remain relevant as long as we have fairly large sections of our society who still don't seem to get it.

We have a black president, elected with many white votes, twice.

and 20 women in the Senate.

So racism and sexism no longer exist. We all just need to move on.

I'm with Cori on this one.

I feel being a feminist means supporting the idea of and allowing women to do what they want to do without making them feel like less because of their choices. If a woman wants to be a career gal who doesn't have kids, fine. If a woman wants to be a stay-at-home mom, fine. If a woman likes having a crazy sex life, or enjoys doing porn, or whatever, fine. If a woman wants to get married, fine. And so on. As long as the woman is willingly choosing to live whatever live she wants, and is happy with or in whatever she's doing, whether she's acting like the stereotypical "girly girl" or not, I consider that a good thing.

And I certainly will continue to support things like equal pay for equal work, and being able to have control over my own body, and things of that sort, as well. I think there's been some great improvements made in regards to how women are treated in this country and in the world (for the most part) over time, but there are still a lot of horrible ways to mistreat and disrespect women still going on out there that we should continue to be aware of and try and stop. The comments this year from some politicians about women's health issues, the patronizing attitude about women voters that was out there...that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of problems we've still got to deal with.

Anywho, blah, blah, bottom line, I would consider myself feminist, yes.

Yep- the Mr. And I are both feminists. I've always defined it as equal rights, equal pay, etc- not "us against them."

I would have never married a man who wasn't a feminist as well.

I hope there will be a day soon when feminism will be irrelevant- when both sexes are on equal ground. I think it's coming, but we still have a long ways to go.

Feminism is always relevant.

The sexes are not yet on equal ground with regards to pay and prestige, so feminism is still relevant. Men and women are not "the same," and the only misguided brand of feminism is the sort that tries to equate them qualitatively, but the two sexes deserve equal opportunities and honor in our society. Until that happens, I'll always consider myself a feminist.

This. The fact that feminism's continued relevance is even a question is testament - unfortunately - to how successful the Right has been in giving the movement the connotation of some misandric, bra-burning cult.

Yes. I think a lot of people just associate it with Germaine Greer and that's why they think it's no longer relevant.

Yikes, I guess I'm making a mistake being reluctant to call myself a feminist :reject:

Well, I guess this is a good time to start?

I think you should do whatever makes you comfortable. If you don't want to call yourself a feminist, don't. A label, or lack thereof, won't affect your values one bit

I never walked away from the term feminist, though I've walked away from some feminist organizations in the same way I would not associate myself with PETA.

I claim the right to define myself in any way I see fit without apology or justification. I am a feminist.

I believe in reproductive rights and choice, but that is not the be-all and end-all of feminism for me. My feminism doesn't see women as being morally or intellectually superior to men (nor do I see men as morally or intellectually superior to women). I've seen horrible and stupid women and I've seen horrible and stupid men. My feminism doesn't want to limit, define, punish or discard men. My feminism just doesn't want women to be limited or defined or punished or discarded.

I agree with that 100%. Taylor Swift is only 22 so I get why to some extent. But if she thinks feminism is about boys vs girls, maybe she should do some more reading about it.

Feminism is about being able to call yourself whatever you want, about having the right and choice to do that. It's about women having the same rights to freedoms and choices that everyone else enjoys. About having rights to equal pay, education, all of that too.

Personally, I would say that Taylor Swift's opinion on feminism is beyond irrelevant. This is someone who makes her living through juvenalia. The trend of media pretending that any given celebrity's thoughts on social or cultural issues are intrinsically relevant is an extremely dangerous one, especially in terms of women's issues. There are very few A-list female celebrities whom one can safely call feminist. In music especially they tend simply to exploit many of the worst stereotypes of women for their own gain.

It looks to me like an entire article was written based on a throw-away quote :shrug:

It seems to happen anytime any celebrity is asked about feminism. Lady Gaga comes to mind. I remember being disappointed by her response, as I had more expectations based on what she's all about. If I recall correctly, she had a similar response, something like "No, because I like men." Ugh.

Taylor Swift? I had no expectations and not much interest in what she might have to say about it.

Even so, I felt the entire article reflected my attitudes toward feminism and I wanted to share and discuss here.

yes, Swift and GaGa don't need any Ledbetter legislation or care if birth control is included in their health plans.

to get to the real question, sexism still exist,
there was plenty on display this election cycle

the term feminism, who cares :shrug:
I try and stay away from labels and just support the right thing, position, politicians
that is the most, and best we can do

I think labels divide people