Feminist and Proud

Over the past couple of days, I have turned my attention to Feminism. I have to admit, I haven’t really thought much about it before.

I mean, I’m pretty clear that I want equality for women. I’m pretty clear that women shouldn’t be treated as second class people, or as possessions of their husbands or fathers. I’ve thought about individual feminist issues, such as child brides, maternity healthcare, the abortion issue, access to contraception, equality in work, and in religion, equality in the home and I’ve spoken out about all of them. It’s just that I’ve honestly never thought about all joined up before. I’ve never considered Feminism as a movement or a cause that might relate to me.

I think that part of the reason for this is that I’ve sort of lost track of the history of it all, and I’m lost as to why Feminism is seen as negative now. I mean, I know about the suffragette movement, and how voting rights happened, and I know how the two World Wars affected the way women’s lives were. I know about the advent of sexual revolution that came with the creation of the contraceptive pill (though I see that one as something of a double edged sword), and I have hazy thoughts about burning bras.

But then it’s all exploded in my head into a mass of ‘but where are we now?’

The reason this has entered my thoughts in the past few days, is that I was invited into a group under the heading of ‘Feminists’, and I thought ‘Am I a feminist?’

Obviously, being a curious sort of soul, I began to look into it a bit, mentioned to several people that I haven’t the slightest clue if I’m feminist or not, and could I please listen and learn a bit.

I have done this. Technically I've only done it for two days, but I have to start somewhere. And while I’ll freely admit that I’m still very much a novice and have a long, long way to go, I can now answer the ‘am I a feminist?’ question.

Turns out the answer is; ‘fuck yes! Of course I bloody am! What the hell was I thinking in even questioning that?’

There are still a lot of questions that I do need to answer. In fact, that I’m building quite a list.

Can I be a feminist if I worry that my teeth are crooked and wish they were nice and straight?

Can I be a feminist if I think that when I’m having a period, I should just stop trying, lie under a duvet and enlist someone to bring me masses of chocolate?

Can I be a feminist if I don’t like how my ankles look when they’re really hairy? (I have to admit, this one doesn’t often come up as I tend to live in jeans.)

Can I be a feminist if I don’t always agree with every statement that another feminist makes?

Can I be a feminist if I sometimes choose to do things that are solely for the benefit of my husband and children?

Is the word ‘feminist’ important?

That last one is the one that I’m working on first. My first forays into the subject have led me to think ‘yes, actually I think that there is.’

It’s been brought to my attention that at some point the term feminist has been skewed so that it sets off uncomfortable images in people’s heads. There seem to be a number of different images; some see unwashed and hairy men-haters. Other people see it as part of a larger class war, and exclusive to their status. I’ll probably come across many more over the course of time. I don’t know how and where this happened (though I’m pretty sure I’ll find out), but it strikes me that it’s probably similar to the other terms that have been diminished and twisted over time. ‘The religious are illogical, unscientific, stupid people’, ‘Catholics are gay-hating, child abusers’, ‘Muslims are war-mongering’, and ‘teenagers are smelly, hormonally driven morons’.

So in my very naïve, very ill educated way, I’ve decided that the best way to counter all of this, is to simply go about my every-day business, in my normal, serenely sweary way, while holding myself under the banner of ‘feminist’.

Feminism might well include a some people that could be described by the statements above, but it also includes me, in the only body that I've got, living the only life that I have.

Having settled that, the next question is ‘is feminism still important?’

I only opened that door a teeny-tiny amount, and the wealth of examples of injustice that are still going on floored me. So yes, it would seem that there is a great deal of work to be done, and not just in developing countries with different cultures either. There’s a shed-load just right here on my doorstep.

I don’t know what to do about any of it, but there are an awful lot of people who seem to have extraordinary wisdom on this subject, and the colossal strength to do what needs to be done. I’m going to start by listening to them.

I’m Pip Mulgrue. Feminist and Proud.