Feminism PSA

[breakinglight11]

Just a little heads up to everyone that might be wondering, sparked in part by a recent experience of blendedchaitea.

You may be, at some point in your life, placed in a position where you are forced to ask yourself if you really are doing feminism right. To this I say, simply ask yourself-- do you believe in the inherent value equality of men and women?

Yes? Then you're not a bad feminist.

Insofar as "good" and "bad" even enter into it, I feel like if you do the things that feminists do, then you're doing it "right."

What do feminists do? They believe in the inherent value equality of men and women. Therefore, things that enter into the definition of "good feminist": believing, supporting, agreeing with, et cetera, the concept of the inherent value equality of men and women.

Things that do not enter into the definition of "good feminist": your gender, your sexual orientation, your religion, your nationality, your economic status, your ethnic background, your education, what you do for a living, your aesthetic preferences, your political views, the jokes you laugh at, your diet, what you do for fun, how much sex you have, the media you consume, and a whole host of other things.

"Good feminists" don't need degrees in gender studies. They don't need to have read Stein or Faludi or Dworkin or anyone else. You don't need to stage protests, write letters, go to rallies. You don't have to hate men, be attracted to girls, shave your head, or stop shaving your legs. You don't need to apply the goddamn Bechdel Test before you see a movie or watch a TV show. You don't need to view every single social injustice, perpretrated against women or otherwise, as a personal assault, and if you do, you don't need to hate anyone else who doesn't.

Until and unless one of those things necessarily makes you cease to believe in the inherent value equality of men and women, none of those things are any indication of whether or not you are a bad feminist.

Until and unless you stop believing this, nobody in the world gets to tell you "FEMINISM: UR DOIN IT RONG."

Comments

[yunafonfabre.livejournal.com]

There are people who take the Bechdel test seriously???

[(Anonymous)]

a recent study of 4,379 recent films showed that only 29.9 percent of the speaking roles were filled by women. so, yes.

[yunafonfabre.livejournal.com]

Even if I gave any credence to a statistic like that, it has nothing to do with the Bechdel test.

[(Anonymous)]

if women aren't speaking, and, when they are speaking, it's about men, what does that say?

[yunafonfabre.livejournal.com]

That I like Phoebe too much to continue arguing with a troll in her journal.

[breakinglight11.livejournal.com]

I hope not. I find the premise flawed and slightly disingenous. I may have to post unpacking it sometime.

[morethings5.livejournal.com]

Thank you for saying this, Phoebe. It helps to hear this on occasion, especially as a mostly heterosexual male with rather specific aesthetic tastes in women who still fancies himself a feminist.

Incidentally, I find it funny that you mention that one "doesn't need to be attracted to girls" in order to be a feminist. I've always found it odd that men who are sexually attracted to women are often assumed to disrespect them or think of them as sexual objects, but women who are sexually attracted to women are assumed to simply value them more highly than men. Double standards, anyone?

[(Anonymous)]

"I've always found it odd that men who are sexually attracted to women are often assumed to disrespect them or think of them as sexual objects"

oh, so our culture doesn't prioritize male heterosexuality? okay then...

"women who are sexually attracted to women are assumed to simply value them more highly than men."

because, for example, it's universally legal and agreed upon that two women can marry? oh wait....

[neuromancerzss.livejournal.com]

Neither of those things are at all related to what morethings5 said.

[morethings5.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the backup.

To Anonymous Griper: For the record, OF COURSE our culture prioritizes male heterosexuality, and OF COURSE I understand that lesbians do not have anything like equal rights to heterosexuals. I think both of these things are tragic, but tolerating other (gender-biased and sexuality-biased) double standards, like the one I pointed out, is not going to help anyone. Denying heterosexuals the right to defend their feelings just alienates them from becoming allies.

[morethings5.livejournal.com]

And also, since reading over your post I think this may come from a misunderstanding, I meant "assumed by a lot of feminists," not "assumed by our culture as a whole." I didn't mean to say that our society punishes men for being heterosexual or rewards women for being homosexual, because as you point out that is clearly not the case. I'm sorry if I was unclear.

[breakinglight11.livejournal.com]

I've always found that funny too! Funny in a "wow, that's hypocritical" sort of way. I really dislike the implication that women are so much more evolved than men that their attraction to women is somehow "higher."

[hanasaseru.livejournal.com]

This post is amazing, well-expressed, and I whole-heartedly agree with everything in it.

[breakinglight11.livejournal.com]

Thanks!