Feminism is brilliant. Personally I owe it a great deal (See what’s feminism ever done for men? in the Morning Star for details) but I also want to make a confession. I don’t describe myself as a feminist and distrust any man who says they are.
Not because I think they are traitors to Patriarchy Club (meets every Wednesday, all not welcome) but because so often it seems to be more of a little pat on the back they are giving themselves before an extended monologue. Who do they think they are? Bloggers?
Sometimes it feels that the “I’m a man and a feminist” crowd are just pointing to the medals they’ve awarded themselves before expounding on their superior understanding of the world for the benefit of whichever hapless woman they happen to be speaking at.
I’m not that keen on the term “ally” either, partly because it’s one of those words that only activists use to inadvertently exclude the uninitiated and partly because it sounds a bit too much like American academic jargon. But that’s just me. And every other sane person.
Labels?
Of course the label is only partially helpful when women use it. If I meet someone who tells me they are a feminist I’ve learned a little about them but I still don’t know what their position is on a whole host of issues that are central feminist concerns.
Does she spend most of her time on unionising and low pay or are her priorities sex work and abortion? Is she for abolishing sex work or supporting sex workers? Does she campaign about pink toys or page three, or is she a rape counsellor or a top ranked economist? Does she actually do anything or is feminism simply an attractive idea?
The list is endless, without getting onto intersectionality and patriarchy theory, and don’t want to imply any right answers here, only point out that feminism is a rich strain of thought so it is only through a conversation do you start to get an idea of where she’s coming from and where points of agreement and disagreement might be found.
The same is true for socialism, Marxism, liberals, greens and a host of other political labels coincidentally, I’m not singling feminism out here, simply pointing to the inadequacy of the labels we give ourselves.
Definitions
Sometimes you see people define feminism as believing “women should not be treated as doormats” but I don’t think that will do. Certainly every feminist thinks this but quite a lot of people who you could not possibly define as feminist do too. If you’re very relaxed about all the cleaners in your work place being women while all the programmers are men, but you’re polite and respectful to them in person you can say “hey, I don’t treat women like doormats” but can you meaningfully be described as a feminist? Hardly.
Then there’s “feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” Well misogynists think women are people they don’t like, this doesn’t get us very far.
Likewise there’s a definition along the lines of “feminism is believing men and women are equal”. Again, we should all believe in equality but when you examine it the phrase becomes more and more hollow. Equally miserable? Equally able to reach the top of a sugar corporation responsible for the super-exploitation and death of hundreds of thousands? Equally damaged, distorted or deranged by modern society?
Is feminism the quest to ensure that sexual harassment scandals are equally balanced 50 / 50 between men and women? I hope not. It seems to me that the rich veins that run through the feminist movement run deeper than that and, in their different ways, look towards liberation rather than equality.
Is this just pedantry?
First of all there is no such thing as “just” pedantry, it’s a noble tradition, but no, it isn’t. Defining feminism simply as a belief in equality can be a problem, not because there aren’t lots of instances where the right-on social justice angels are campaigning over inequality, but because it becomes a fetter on that more profound objective – liberation.
You see this particularly with online “Men’s Rights” activists who take the gender equality definition and try to use it to either co-opt or outflank feminists in interminable online discussions. They say “we’re all interested in equality so really you should adopt our agenda”.
However men and women having an equal say in whether a woman has an abortion or not is a weird sort of equality that would strip half the population of the right to control their own bodies and grant the other half with the power to force others to do things they do not want to do. That would be pretty poxy.
Equality becomes semantics that loses sight of the actual attempt to make the world a better place. I blame the American Constitution which makes some people think that the technical meaning of super-special words is more important than whether you can save the lives of thousands of kids every year by restricting gun ownership.
Let’s ask for more
While there are many strands of feminism most are not attempting to simply give women the same shitty lives as men but are attempting to do something far more fundamental.
Combating discrimination, fighting for equal pay, etc. are obviously part of this but the aim is not today’s society but equal, but to transform society. I simply don’t think men’s rights people are engaged in anything resembling that project no matter how much they whimper about being for “equality too”.
Ultimately feminists don’t agree with each other on loads of this stuff and so I feel no obligation to agree with any particular feminist on any particular thing – however I am sure that if someone is an active feminist there will be a host of things we do agree about and can potentially work together to achieve.
Maybe this is why I’m staying out of the “which sort of feminist are you” debate because, like the rest of the left, activists seem to be very good at finding reasons not to work with people that they actually agree with on at least 80% of the important stuff on. The gate keepers can keep their gate I’d rather focus on what we’re doing than getting into a club. I’m not interested in being an Ally, but if I can help make the world a better place, I’ll try to make that contribution.