When Australian television presenter Karl Stefanovic asked
Katy Perry if she is a feminist, her answer was fluff. And as usual, the Social
Consciousness Nazis--bloggers and intellectuals as strict and demanding with regard
to pet issues as the Soup Nazi is about his soup--can’t simply groan and click
on something else. They have to bring all their wit and condemnation to bear on
the supposed offender, and by their puerility discredit their cause in the eyes
of many.
Perry’s answer (watch it here at 1:40):
"A feminist? Uh, yeah, actually. I used to not really understand what that word meant, and now that I do, it just means that I love myself as a female and I also love men."
The response on The Huffington
Post (article) included this:
This diagram--drafted by Rebecca Searles, a Huffington Post editor--is
representative of much that is wrong with dialogue in our internet-drenched,
memed-to-death times. It reduces a complex issue into a simple, snarky visual
that you would have to be stupid or evil to disagree with. The posted meme with
its Like button and Comments section doesn’t allow for anything Plato would
recognize as dialogue or even conversation.
The Huffington Post’s
definition is all right, but feminism clearly does not only mean that. Words don’t have a single definition, they have
families of definitions, they have uses, and clouds of connotations that can be
hard to pin down. Feminism is no different.
Perry’s definition is pretty airy, but I take her to mean
that she is a strong woman and wants this confidence for other women as well. Isn’t
this an important part of feminism? I think it is, but it isn’t good enough for
the Social Consciousness Nazis, who insist you see everything in exactly their
terms. They will eat their own for straying from the approved script.
I suspect Perry and others are uncertain about feminism because
to them the word suggests a certain style
of feminism, one that many see as overwrought and unpleasant. Judging by the Huffington Post’s diagram, I have been a
feminist for as long as I can remember, but I recently became more interested
in it after blogging about the Greta Garbo film Queen Christina. Surfing the internet, I often find myself reading feminist content.
While it is often good (I admire Laurie Penny), there is a surprising amount of
pure man-hating posing as serious commentary.
No wonder girls like Perry hesitate to associate with that.
Statistics regularly show that women still do not enjoy
equal opportunity in the U.S. and around the world, and the Republican War on
Women is real, so I’m glad there are aggressive feminists (like attorney, activist and candidate for California State Senate
Sandra Fluke) who fight hard for the cause. But ill-conceived ideology and snarky
blurbs by the rank and file online will only turn away people who would
otherwise be there fighting alongside them.
I would have to add a bit to this John. If you want equality you have to stop defining yourself in separate terms. I also believe that in most things handled in a legal sense (as for rights to vote, to be heard, to be paid in the same career, etc) should be completely equal, but in all other matters, men and women aren't equal. I won't use your blog as a means to argue my viewpoint on sexual equality, but I will argue that feminism isn't quite that complicated. Webster defines it pretty easily, the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. The only time it gets complicated is by trying to determine how you are going to protest anti-feminist ideas and policies.
ReplyDeleteAs for the diagram above it is pretty accurate if you exclude the subjective opinions in the bottom two bubbles.
DeleteYeah, I do think the diagram's and Webster's definitions are fine, but I also think feminism does not only mean that. Maybe we disagree there, I'm not sure. For me, the dictionary can only provide part of a word's much broader meaning, and that's where it gets complicated and interesting. A simple definition is handy when it comes to equal rights vs. the War on Women, it's not so handy when it's Katy Perry versus intellectual bloggers, because they all agree on the simple definition, but run afoul of each other in other aspects of feminism not included in the simple definition. Elizabeth Caddy Stanton and Camille Paglia would agree on the simple definition but disagree on many other things essential to feminist thought and activism. I see many feminisms, not one. I'm not against the simple definition, I'm just saying its utility only extends so far, and it's silly for one group of feminists to attack another group of feminists with it when they all agree on it. As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'll have to hear your views on sexual equality sometime.
ReplyDeleteYou may not want to hear my ideas on it. It may change your opinion of me, LOL. I am not a chauvinist by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't like the idea of feminism. I do hope one day we can sit and discuss it because it involves my opinion on why American Society is falling apart and why our future may be bleak. It also is a small part of why I believe world peace is an impossibility. I don't just believe it is an impossibility, but I am afraid to live in a world that was peaceful, because of what will have to happen to make it that way. We could probably talk for days on this topic alone..... :D
DeleteGreat post! I love your insights. I was a women's studies minor in university, and I have encountered so many different kinds/schools of feminism. We don't all even have one set basic definition, and we disagree on much! I agree with you that feminists attacking other feminists needs to stop! We need to respect each other, be compassionate, and engage in conversation that can help us understand each other.
ReplyDeleteFeminism is highly misunderstood. So many people are feminists in their beliefs but don't identify as feminists. I wish feminism wasnt seen as a man-hating, us-vs-them kind of movement. I think the name is misleading. Feminism doesn't just advocate for women. In general, we are fighting for social justice and equality for all. Sexism, patriarchy, misogyny, and gender roles hurt men, too.
Thanks for the comment. It sounds like you know a lot more about this than I do, so I'm glad to hear a positive reaction. When certain ideologies take offense at pop stars' comments in an interview or certain scenes in movies, I find the ensuing debates fascinating.
ReplyDelete