Blog #1

As Penny Weiss realized in “I’m Not a Feminist, But…” many people agree with the economic and social principals of feminism, but say they do not consider themselves a feminist. For instance, in a Penn State poll with 364 women students, 38.2% said they were feminist. However, 96.8% supported gender equality on social, political, and economic levels (Weiss 46). Seeing as though there is some confusion as to what feminism actually is, I will take a stab at trying to define it.

My definition of feminism is: Believing that men and women have the same economic, political, and social rights and also acknowledging that women are and have been oppressed throughout history. However, not every woman is oppressed in the same way and society should understand how each woman is oppressed at her own intersection.

I agree with Weiss in the sense that to be feminist, you have to believe a woman has the same economic, political, and social rights as a man. However, to be a feminist, I also believe you have to acknowledge the fact that women have been oppressed throughout history. As Marilyn Frye said, “The statement that women are oppressed is frequently met with the claim that men are oppressed too… Some men cite as evidence of their oppression their much-advertised inability to cry.” (Frye 8) In my opinion, the difference between inability to cry and, say, the right to vote, is the law. There is no legal barrier that says men cannot cry. But, until 1920 women could not vote. They were not allowed, legally. To me, that is how you separate the two, you have to realize if there is a legal barrier or a personal barrier.

To round out my definition of feminism, I will quote Crenshaw, “The problem with identity politics is not that it fails to transcend difference, as some critics charge, but rather the opposite—that it frequently conflates or ignores intergroup differences.” (74) As a feminist, I realize that feminists as a whole cannot agree on one definition of themselves. However, I do not think this is a bad thing. If we feminists pigeonhole ourselves into one definition then I am sure we would be leaving someone, with some unique circumstance, out of our definition. That is exactly what Crenshaw is saying, if we give ourselves a definition that will cause us to ignore some feminists. So, my last idea for feminists is to recognize everyone’s unique intersection of oppression. I believe if we feminists start trying to understand where others are coming from and their form of oppression, then we will better understand ourselves.  

Works Cited:

Frye, Marilyn. "Oppression." (1983): n. page. Web. 15 Jan. 2012.

Weiss, Penny. ""I'm Not a Feminist, But...": Popular Myths About Feminism." (1998): n. page. Web. 15 Jan. 2012.

Williams Crenshaw, Kimberle. "Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color." (1995): 73-83. Web. 15 Jan. 2012.