Ruby in the Sky

This article was written by a white, cis-gender, straight, middle-class woman. While I strive to be as intersectional as possible, I acknowledge that I am privileged and therefore might miss important insight. If anything I wrote in this article (or anywhere else) needs to be amended, let me know.

Feminist isn’t a dirty word.

There are very little people who actually disagree with what feminism stands for.

Feminism is not a term to be used by “man-hating” women exclusively.

And yet, more often than I’d like, feminism is described as all the above.

Why?

We have forgotten what feminism is.

People have come to associate a very specific, loud minority, as the sole representative of a cause that, in reality, affects all of us, regardless of gender. People are shying away from the word feminist, because they don’t think the term is inclusive. All over the world, there are people coming up with their own words to say exactly the same thing feminists are saying. The name that is used to describe advocates for equal rights for all genders, is now a subject of discussion in itself. And I think this needs to end. The on-going discussion regarding the term feminism is harmful, for multiple reasons.

The first reason we shouldn’t be wasting our time on this discussion, is that it takes attention away from the actual issues that these movements are fighting. When you want to discuss a feminist topic, but you can’t even get past the definition of the word, how will you ever get to the point where you can have a fruitful discussion? What’s more, if the advocates of gender equality are spread across different movements, how can we possibly be efficient in our battle? Screaming about how we all want pretty much the exact same thing isn’t going to get anyone anywhere.

Then, there is the stereotyping. Stereotyping is harmful in many ways and it is in some sense understandable that one would rather not be associated with so-called feminazi’s – even though oftentimes this name also stems from a deeply rooted sexism in which women speaking up are automatically cast aside as rude, “bitchy”, or harsh. Regardless, if you are fighting for the same cause, you are the very person who can make this stereotype go away. A movement should not be defined by the stereotype that it is given, but by the cause it is fighting for. Not all muslims are terrorists (a truth also frequently forgotten); nor are all feminists man-haters.

Lastly, by refusing to use the term feminist because of its suggested focus on women, you are denying history. Feminism got its name for the very real reason that women at the time of the first wave (and still today) had a lot of catching up to do. By choosing a name such as egalitarian or humanist (which is, by the way, something different entirely), you are ignoring the fact that women have been suppressed for the greater part of history. How can you create an equal society if you’re denying the one of the root problems? It is considered wrong for countries to deny or brush over their colonial past, so why isn’t it wrong for people to do the same for women’s oppression?

These are a lot of aspects to feminism, and I would’ve loved to address here and now. Sadly, I wrote this article to highlight the problems concerning rejection of the term itself – you see how this is  a problem?

We cannot effectively bring change about, if we’re not on the same team. We can only get past the harmful stereotypes by adding our voices and proving them wrong. We cannot move forward without acknowledging our past.

We need to call ourselves feminists to move towards equality of all: equality regardless of gender identity, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, and all else that makes up who we are.

What I would love for this article is to be a reference; thus I might edit, amend or extend it as time passes and/or suggestions come in. 

Love, Ruby