Millennial women do not want to be identified as Feminists..

[Peacetrain]

I was listening to one of the morning shows, and they did this story on how young women do not want to be identified as Feminists.. One young woman came on and said, all the victories have been won, we no longer need to call ourselves that.. we are just for human rights..

John is sitting on the couch ..looks over at me.. and I just shook my head.. sort of taken aback.

The right has fully succeeded in demonizing the term.. (Rush Limbaugh leading the way with Femi-nazi) .. and its sad. My great grandmother was a suffragette.. I of course do not identify as a suffragette.. so on one little scale I can understand it.. The battle must seem won..

In actuality they are anything BUT won. Attacks on rights to birth control and safe abortions are in full swing.

My guess is that if you asked them individually if they were for preserving this right or that.. it would be a big yes.. but the term has been so abused.. they may run from it.

I went through this with liberal vs progressive.. I still and will always term myself a liberal. But I understand progressives have the same wants and values I do.. I just refuse to have the term taken from me.

It is just so sad to see how effectively the right demonizes us as groups..

But especially this battle. for reproductive rights.. is anything but won.. and women around the world are under attack like I have never seen in my life time.

So to the younger women who do not want to embrace the term.. I understand.. but please take this little piece of advice from one of the older feminists.. do not let anyone use an attack on terms of how people identify as a group to keep you from staking a claim for your rights..

[hlthe2b]

1. Just as RW has managed to demonize the term "liberal"....

Not so ironically, there is a lot of cross-over with RW and misogynists. Young girls, sadly, are susceptible to this kind of manipulation...

[TheSarcastinator]

2. yes, those girls are just misinformed, stupid and confused, right?

They need someone smart and informed to explain it to them, right?

You do realize you sound exactly like those you would criticize, don't you?

[hlthe2b]

5. Our society has influence on young girls, who frequently take time to develop self esteem...

and their independence of thought.

Your rude comment aside, that is the truth.

[LordGlenconner]

13. I don't know about stupid or confused

But they are clearly misinformed.

[trumad]

25. Let me jump in here and answer that.

Yes

nuff said!

[ismnotwasm]

27. No

I think most people shy away from labels. Look at voting averages, the "they're all the same mentality" the lack of interest in ANY political process. Shying away from a word whose ideology you have researched with critical thinking and rejected-- for me that would be Republicanism and Libertarianism-- to name a couple-- is one thing-- shying away from a label because it has been misused and misinterpreted by popular media is quite another. That is the OP's point. No need to be rude.

Fortunately I know many young feminists. We aren't gong away any time soon. In fact, the movement had grown, nobody is saying 'feminism is dead' Now-- unless they haven't been paying attention.

[alp227]

31. So do you not believe that people should make properly informed decisions? nt

[xmas74]

42. As the mother of a teenage girl

yes, they are misinformed. I hear it on a regular basis from my daughter's friends. They've been taught that feminists are man-haters, that feminists want to dominate men, that they want to make men subservient.

I've heard that only lesbians can be feminists. I've heard that feminists cannot be nurturers of any shape or form since they "run away and leave their kids." I've heard that feminists want to break up families and want to force women and men both to abandon any traditional roles.

I've tried to correct those assertions but it doesn't always stick. (The arguments about lesbians is a whole 'nother can of worms which I've tried to address but that's another discussion.) My daughter, otoh, is proud to be a feminist. She said the other day that she's a feminist because she believes in equality. She said that we still need feminism because of every time her mother is qualified for a promotion and is passed over for a man with less experience and less seniority. (This happened yet again just about a week ago.)

My child is a proud feminist but most of her friends have no clue that it's a good thing. They only know about "feminazis" and picture feminists on par with the SS.

[alp227]

41. YES! There are LOTS of people who support left-wing positions but shy away

from identifying as liberal! thanks to 25+ years of right wing talk radio and other orgs throwing around liberal, feminism, Democrat, etc as snarl words, lots of people who think they're voting in the interest of workers are conned into voting Republican and actually for BIG BUSINESS!

[LanternWaste]

3. The word is in the process being co-opted by the right,

The word is in the process being co-opted by the right, as was the word Liberal 20 years ago.

A sad thing is that this process is being assisted by a small minority on the left too who insist on using it as a pejorative, or using the term RadFem in its place (to better pretend they're clever or some-such?).

But they too shall pass into the dustbin of history, and some years from now, will be little more than the objects of bemusement to an educated and informed electorate.

[historylovr]

8. +1

[FrodosPet]

34. RadFem is a term of self-identification

http://radicalhubarchives.wordpress.com/

“The Hub” was a collective radical feminist blog and its purpose was to post fresh, original radfem content, provide a male-free and safe platform for women to discuss, and promote radical feminist perspectives and interests.

[LanternWaste]

35. Not on DU-- it's used as a pejorative.

Not on DU-- it's used as a pejorative.

Rationalize, rationalize, rationalize...

[FrodosPet]

36. OK, I am confused

So when feminist blog writers identify as Radical Feminists - it is legitimate self identification (or is it)?

But if someone uses the term in a DU post to describe any aspect or format of feminism - even ones that self-identify as Radical Lesbians - it is a slur?

[LanternWaste]

38. "Bless your little heart". You think it's not a passive-aggressive insult?

"I am confused..." So that's the allegation, huh...?


"But if someone uses the term in a DU post to describe..."
Its safe assumption... unless of course, you can point to a popular post in which RadFem is being used as a sincere and honest term of endearment rather than a back-handed compliment.

"Bless your little heart". You think it's not a passive-aggressive insult?
See? Same thing. Easy peasy, George and Wheezy.


Please, continue the pretense of sincere curiosity... and you will of course, be given all the credibility it warrants. Good luck!!!

[DURHAM D]

4. I have several younger female friends who have

revisited this issue and are now referring to themselves as feminists. After Hobby Lobby one of them refers to herself as a radical feminist. All of them have apologized to me and my generation for not getting earlier.

[Peacetrain]

7. This is good to hear..

I was pretty sad this morning after listening to the discussion..

[IronLionZion]

6. The word "feminist" is ambiguously defined to many

and people with political agendas can easily paint it with the worst possible attributes as a way to discredit other associated policy positions and then attack individuals who support any of it.

These assholes hijack language and turn it into negative connotations. Its the nature of the ideologies that liberal stuff is often loosely defined while conservative stuff is strictly defined.

Other words they have bastardized as being bad somehow: liberal, stimulus, union, green, regulation, amnesty, government, food stamps,

[Peacetrain]

9. I know, it just gets so tiring..

[IronLionZion]

12. If you're a "feminist" then you must have a weak scared victim mentality

and compensate by supporting all sorts of atrocious things.

[one_voice]

10. My daughter doesn't call herself a feminist...

either. She says it doesn't have enough 'bite'. She calls herself a Warrior for Women. LOL...

If you knew her you'd know how appropriate that is for her. We're both going to the 'We are woman rally' in September.

Maybe we'll get tee-shirts that say..'warrior for women'....

[Peacetrain]

11. Love it!!

Give her a big old hug from me.. You know I just send them reeling.. because I am a Christian Feminist.. stops them in their tracks when I make that announcement ..

[SunSeeker]

14. Your grandmother was a Suffragist. "Suffragette" was a term coined to belittle Suffragists.

The term Suffragette was coined by the London newspaper, the Daily News in 1906 -- scathingly they referred to the women as not real suffragists. By adding the "ette" diminutive, it tried to ridicule the women as something small. It appears the term stuck.

Obviously, the branding war against women has gone on forever. With similar vilification of the term feminist (thanks to misogynists like Rush Limbaugh, calling them Feminazis, etc.), it looks like it will fall into the dustbin of feared and rejected terms, like liberal.

[Nye Bevan]

18. "the objects of the intended ridicule gladly embraced the term...."

The term "suffragette" was first used as a term of derision by the journalist Charles E. Hands in the London Daily Mail for activists in the movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).[2] But the objects of the intended ridicule gladly embraced the term saying "suffraGETtes" (hardening the g) implied not only that they wanted the vote, but that they intended to get it as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette

Kind of like how the term "Iron Lady" was originally intended as an insult to Margaret Thatcher, but was happily embraced by her.

[DURHAM D]

19. I think using suffragette is a personal choice.

I would never use it to refer to my activist grandmother because she did not like it but others embraced it and so it just depends...

Likewise, I don't care what the younger feminists want to call themselves (or not call themselves) as long as they are paying attention to what is happening.

[SunSeeker]

21. Well, that is one way to deal with it.

Much like embracing the term Obamacare. But I hope I don't see anyone embracing Feminazi.

[ismnotwasm]

30. +1

[Xyzse]

15. I've spoken to a few of them actually.

It is not that they do not espouse or are not grateful for what have been done from past generations.

It is just that they don't want it to be the only conversation, where there are other things they also wish to concentrate on, without being looked down upon.

I have a friend who complained about how a feminist teacher of hers looked at her badly and tried to dissuade her from the idea of marriage and a family.

It is also that some don't want to have to be defined by that either. Where, they want to empower themselves as an individual beyond the term. They want to be known for what they do, and what they enjoy.

The idea is looking at things at a more rounded perspective, as being defined as a feminist, to some of them is a pointed concentration on a few things.

Though you may be right, that term Feminist has become demonized, through magnifying and pointing out traits that are unflattering, while trivializing all the good it has done.

Thing is, I know that some of them also get tired of talking to some older feminists, as they feel like the conversation is tiresome or filled with doom and gloom. That there is more to life than just that.

In some ways, I equate it with how I dislike talking to my mother. I love her, and appreciate what she has done, but JHC, stop talking about money all the time. Life is not just about that, and stop making me feel bad for not investing more(or telling you about my investments and financial status). I know it is important, and I'm doing what I can, but I can't make it my 24/7 concentration.

I know, that it isn't really like that either, but some of the young women(and some in their 40-50s who I spoken to) feel close to that way.

Sometimes, we really have to try to move past labels.

[ismnotwasm]

29. Labels are how we identify ourselves politically

We are posting on a site that calls itself "democratic underground'

When I talk to young women and they shy away from the label, but embrace the ideology, I get that. It's ok.
Since I proclaim my feminism every chance I get, and by no means am "doom and gloom" but rather am gregarious and funny, I get to be an example of living feminism. What I hear is younger referring to 'the feminist in me thinks...' So while it's not a whole hearted label embracing, it's supportive of feminism.

So, moving not past labels but sidestepping them is more what I see.

[Xyzse]

32. That works too.

I can't really speak for the ones I've spoken to, just the impression I have had from my conversations.

I may be getting them wrong too but, really the point of my little post is what you mention on the first part of your 2nd paragraph.

"they shy away from the label, but embrace the ideology"

Which is basically me mentioning not to worry too much, and younger folks are usually not as lost as some think.

[ismnotwasm]

37. Nice!

The word has gone from quasi-obscurity to constant conversation.

Which is, itself interesting. Limbaugh resurrected the word "feminazi" pissing off tons of folks in a variety of ways. I think he made a huge tactical error there.

[JaneyVee]

16. Don't worry ladies, feminism still has your back!

[CrispyQ]

26. This liberal feminist says +1!

[Nye Bevan]

17. Then they are idiots. We should all be feminists, men included.

Who could possibly object to this?

[steve2470]

22. agreed ! nt

[jen63]

44. I was thinking the same thing

as I was reading down through the thread. I'm a proud feminist with a 20 year old son. I did my best to pound these values into his skull. I don't know if I've completely succeeded or not, I hope I have. All I DO know is that he always had more female than male friends in high school and I hope that's for a good reason. He is just totally in love with his girlfriend and I can only hope that he treats her with the values that I tried to instill in him.

So important for feminist moms to raise feminist boys imo.

[one_voice]

20. .

[loyalsister]

23. It's like the people who claim to be "colorblind"

and want to believe that racism no longer exists. As a person with an invisible disability, I hear it in that context as well. I and most of my friends who are racial minorities want to be seen. We want to claim our history and our rights.
I wonder what it would take for women to take pride in their gender.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

24. DU Rec.

[eridani]

28. I'm too lazy to dig up all the articles that have been published since 1970--

--on why women don't want to be feminists. Looked like whistling in the dark to me by then, and nothing has changed since.

[hamsterjill]

33. Well I am a Feminist and damn proud of it!

The younger women can call themselves what they like, as long as they understand what is at stake here.

I sometimes think the younger generations do not understand that. I hope I am horribly wrong.

The right has succeeded in getting many restrictions on a woman's right to a safe, legal and private abortion. This is after a very hard fought battle to have abortion made safe, legal and private in the 70's.

Don't let the right wingers take away the strides that have been made. If you are a young woman reading this and think you will never need access to safe, legal and private abortion, then I sincerely hope you are right. But, trust me, you just never know. If you aren't ever in need of a safe, legal and private abortion, you may still have women friends who need that right.

And make no mistake about it - the next target of the right wingers is birth control. I used to laugh when someone would tell me that. I used to think there was no way that women who'd come to be used to having birth control available and safe would allow that right to be taken away. But unless we all stand up and demand our rights, including demanding that those rights we have now continue to be available to us, things can, and sometimes do, change drastically.

[Peacetrain]

39. It is absolutely birth control..

I truly do not think people get that.. I remember when only married women could get the pill.. it has not been that long ago..

[nolabear]

40. Oh, kids always think they get things by magic. They'll wise up.

If the show was the same one I saw it showed all these young women holding up signs with things like "I want him to open the jar I can't open!" and "I don't hate men!" and "I want to get my job fair and square!" and "I want to be a stay at home mom!"

Bless their hearts. "Feminism" is a catch-all term and it's been manipulated by certain people to imply that it means you have to be a certain way, when what it actually means is we should all have the opportunity to be whomever we want to be.

Sometimes I wish that the ones who want to be materially taken care of and cosseted would realize that no one is trying to take that away from them. And one of the flaws in some feminist thinking is making that desire seem shameful. At its best it's about choice, and equality, and opportunity for all, not shaming and dividing.

Here's hoping that realizing they're in a world that all too often doesn't have their best interest at heart isn't too hard on them. We need to be here to welcome them when they need us.

[kiva]

43. Feminist had a pretty short shelf life as a popular term,

early 70s, before the attacks began. It's not just Millennials, I know women of all ages who shy away from the label because of all of the negative baggage conservatives have used to define it.

My test: do you believe that women should have the same rights as men regarding educations, jobs, salary, and other areas of life? Yes? Then you're a feminist, simple.