My Definition of Feminism (And Why It's Different From Emma Watson's)
(Shown: Emma Watson with UN Secretary General Bank Ki-Moon. Source in the link in the first paragraph below.)
It seems to have become popular among feminists to define feminism simply as a belief in gender equality. Probably the most famous recent example of this is from Emma Watson's UN speech last week:
For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of political, economic and social equality of the sexes.
It was a good speech. I encourage everyone to read or watch it, and to participate in #HeForShe. But this definition of feminism doesn't work for me.
It's not hard to see why feminists like to use this definition: it's stigma-free. In a world where the opponents of feminism are constantly trying to attach harmful stigma to it (man-hating, anti-family, etc.), a definition that is so clean and so free of political implications looks very attractive.
The problem for me is that everybody thinks they believe in gender equality. The "men's rights" people think they believe in gender equality. Preachers who want women to be submissive wives and stay out of ministry think they believe in gender equality. Politicians who shred reproductive rights think they believe in gender equality.
Belief in equality isn't enough. I've always believed in equality, but I didn't really become a feminist until I started to catch a glimpse of how far away equality is and how many obstacles there are that keep women from achieving it.
I think Emer O'Toole, in a January piece for The Guardian, was making the same kind of point when she drew this flowchart:
We shouldn't let those who misunderstand and misrepresent feminism make us afraid to say that feminism is about women. It is about women. It is ultimately good for men, because the gender roles feminists are dismantling hurt men too, but the "fem" in feminism means something, and I don't think that we can afford to ignore or forget that.
With that in mind, I'd like to suggest an alternate, I think think more useful, two-part definition of feminism: feminism is the belief (1) that gender equality is a good and necessary thing, and (2) that achieving gender equality requires addressing the ways that women, specifically, are disadvantaged in society.
If we can't all agree at least on that much, then what is feminism?
