The quote on this shirt is from Cheris Kramarae.
I love this shirt. I also definitely think this, treating women like full members of society, is at least part of what feminism is about. But if I was asked to define feminism, this isn't what I would say. This got me thinking about what feminism is. So I looked into some definitions. Most definitions talk about a movement or a struggle that seeks to help women gain equality to men. I understand why that is. I understand that feminism began at a time when women didn't have some of the most basic rights that were afford to men. I get the historical context. First wave, second wave, radical, liberal, all of that. I know about that. But I think we need a new definition.
Feminist scholar and author bell hooks examines the question of how to define feminism in the second chapter of her book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. The chapter is called "Feminism: A Movement to End Sexist Oppression." She criticizes the standard definition because she says that it is a definition formed at a time when the movement was composed almost entirely of rich white women. Since rich white women were the movement, they defined it, and in so doing they excluded the concerns and voices of women of color and women in lower socioeconomic classes. She calls for a redefinition. She says "Feminism is the struggle to end sexist oppression. Its aim is not to benefit solely any specific group of women, any particular race or class of women. It does not privilege women over men. It has the power to transform in a meaningful way all of our lives." I really like her definition. I like its inclusiveness. I also like that she points out that we don't want to overpower men.
bell hooks also has a book called Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. It is utterly fantastic. (It's also pretty short and an easy read. I own it if anyone would like to borrow it.) I think that this book title is the best definition that I have come across. Feminism is for everyone. For all races, socioeconomic levels. All sexual identities and orientations. For men and women. Feminism is not about lifting women up above men. It's not even just about lifting women up to be equal to men (although that's part of it). It's also about lifting men up where they are disadvantaged by their gender. It's about making it safe for men to show emotion. It's about changing a military system that requires our young men to register for a draft, but not our young women. Think about that. What does that say? I think it tells those young men that their lives are worth less than mine, that they are disposable. That's unacceptable. I'm just as angry about that as I am about the pay gap.
I could talk about what I think feminism is for hours. Seriously. So I have had a really hard time trying to come up with a concise definition, but here is my try: Feminism is a social and political movement that seeks to ensure that no person is restrained by gender bias or stereotyping from being themselves or from achieving all that they are capable of achieving. Feminism is about destroying the boxes that patriarchy forces us into so that all people can move freely in all spheres of being, doing and expressing.
Maybe that's not a good definition. And I know that a lot of feminist won't like that I have taken the focus off of women. Let me make it clear why I did that. I included men because as long as the dialogue about feminism stays in these gendered terms, it remains a struggle of "us" against "them." It remains a fight. But feminism really is for everybody. I think if we can reframe this discussion, not in completely genderless terms, but in terms that are more inclusive, we can move from a fight to collaboration.
I would love to hear from some of y'all about this. What is your feminism? How would you define it? Also, if any of you are interested in reading further about this topic, I have several books on it that you are welcome to borrow. Or if anyone has any reading suggestions for me, please share.
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