"I'm Not a Feminist But..."

You guys seem to like the feminism stuff, so here's some more.

I came across an article on Marissa Mayer today on Google Currents from Feministing.com.  Marissa Mayer, after working as an executive for Google was hired as CEO of Yahoo!.  Shortly after, Mayer announced that she was (still is, sorry for the confusing grammatical structure there) pregnant.  This was a cause for celebration in the feminist community: there's no reason a woman can't be a mother and a CEO (or a mother or a CEO -- that's the beauty of feminism), despite all who say it isn't possible or it's too hard.

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!

Without years of feminism paving the path for Mayer, she would not be able to do what she is doing now, as sad as that may seem.  Despite this, Mayer asserted that she is not a feminist.  "I don’t think that I would consider myself a feminist. I think that I certainly believe in equal rights, I believe that women are just as capable, if not more so in a lot of different dimensions, but I don’t, I think have, sort of, the militant drive and the sort of, the chip on the shoulder that sometimes comes with that."

I'm sorry, what?  Mayer goes on to describe the negative connotation feminism now carries as if that is what is holding her back from "being a feminist."  But there are a few issues I want to address before I get to that bit.

First, Mayer is clearly mistaken when it comes to the definition of feminism that is now widely accepted and encouraged today.  For most people, feminism is not just about women.  Feminism is about all kinds of people, as I've mentioned in previous blogs.  Not only women benefit from feminism.  In fact, the first definition which Merriam-Webster lists in their online dictionary for "feminism" is, "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes."

What's interesting about this definition is that it is not "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of women" or even, "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of women and men."  It specifically lists "the sexes," which can include women, men, trans* individuals, intersex individuals, asex individuals, and anyone else who might (or might not) fall on the sexual identity spectrum.

The second part of the definition is as follows: "organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests."  I'm still failing to see anything about being angry or hating anyone.  The stigma that feminists inherently hate men is simply false.  Although there may be women who misunderstand feminism or are extremists who do hate men, this is certainly not the majority.  Like any other group, "outsiders" misunderstand feminists because of the extremists.

Those who practice Islam are an excellent example of this phenomenon, unfortunately.  Because of a few extremist Muslims, the rest of them get a bad name.  This is not only not fair but wrong and unhelpful for all parties involved.  It's impossible to see progress if we can't even understand each other.  The "activity on behalf of women's rights and interests" serves simply because women are still not treated equally, which Mayer admits to in her disclaimer.

So how is it that Mayer can be all for the equality and advancement of women (and therefore humankind, because let's face it -- if we raise up one group, we raise up everybody) yet still cry, "I'm not a feminist!"?  Why are women at my university saying the same?

My answer is this: a lack of education.  This is not necessarily anyone's "fault."  It could be an issue of those who misunderstand failing to educate themselves properly before forming opinions, thus casting out uninformed opinions.  It could be an issue of the feminist community not working hard enough to establish their intent and make a point of "disassociating" (for lack of a better term) from the extremists or at least pointing out that the stereotypical feminist is not the truth.  I'm inclined to believe it's a mix of these two things, with the addition of those who are doing the oppressing vilifying feminists in order to gain support and constituency.

Whatever may be the case, in bringing Who Needs Feminism to my university recently, one of my main motivators was to actively show that most of the women and men and others who identify as feminists are not what much of the population might expect or understand to be a feminist.  And note that I said not "most" of the population, but "much."  I think, too, this was one of the goals of the students at Duke University who started the movement.

Embarrassment: What happens when you voice
uninformed opinions.

I won't pretend that I am not guilty of forming opinions of things before actually looking into them or understanding them (see: High School Musical).  But that does not mean I can't contribute to the conversation regarding the misunderstanding of the feminist movement.  In fact, it may mean that I have all the more reason to do so because I've been there.

Before you start complaining that feminists are a bunch of male-hating, hairy-legged, bra-burning bitches, maybe you should do your research.

For the full article on Marissa Mayer, please consult this link: Feministing

I encourage you to continue this discussion in the comments.  Please remember to keep the conversation respectful.