Should women ditch the words ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’?
A number of women are bravely seeking to re-define feminism in ways which aren’t exclusively left-wing, but they’re fighting a losing battle, in my view. I think they’d be wise to ditch the words ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ altogether, and invent new terms to distinguish themselves from militant feminists. Both economic and social conservatives – to take but two groups of women, albeit large ones – might readily identify with a newly-named movement.
The word ‘feminism’ has become irredeemably toxic and associated with dour angry women who hate men and want to trample them into the ground, regardless of the impact on women, families etc. Women’s time and energy would surely be better spent developing a new and distinctive philosophy which would benefit a great many more women than militant feminism. They need to distinguish the new movement from militant feminism, an ideology of the extreme left – and that wouldn’t be difficult.
While women continue to call themselves feminists – or fail to dissociate themselves from the word - they’re playing into the militant feminists’ hands. I doubt that militant feminists make up more than 3-5% of women. They’re remarkably unrepresentative of the vast majority of women, with their disparate views and interests.
What do you think? And if you agree with my argument, do you have any suggestions for a word (possibly an invented word) which might replace ‘feminism’?
You may be undecided whether or not to call yourself a ‘feminist’ these days. To help women who are struggling with this difficult issue, I’ve developed a self-assessment questionnaire. To request a copy, simply email me (Mike Buchanan) at mikebuchanan@hotmail.co.uk. Thank you.
