WARNING: This article contains mild language for the sake of accurately representing sources. You have been warned.
The definition of feminism, straight from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities” and “organized activity in support of women's rights and interests.”
This should end the debate, feminism is about equality. Unfortunately, the debate is not over. The debate continues because a myriad of branches that identify themselves as feminist or are declared feminist branches of thought by modern feminists do not believe in gender equality.
A simple response would be; if someone claims that they want female superiority of any kind in whatever form, then they’re not truly a feminist.
My response is to request an objective authority upon which everyone can measure true feminism against other expressions of what is called feminism.
Who or what is your objective authority?
Is it the dictionary? If so, why do you reject it when it defines racism as “poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race” because black people can’t be racist on account of their skin color?
Was Valerie Solanas a feminist? Valerie Solanas was a radical feminist who shot Andy Warhol in an attempt to assassinate him. She is the author of The SCUM Manifesto, which stands for “Society for Cutting Up Men.” It says, “It is now technically feasible to reproduce without the aid of males (or, for that matter, females) and to produce only females. We must immediately begin to do so.”
The rest of the manifesto does not get any less extreme.
This manifesto not only calls for female supremacy but creates tribalistic camps out of men and women, the superior camp obviously being women. Thus women are compelled to conquer men.
Solanas’ manifesto is not the only manifesto to pit women against men. In Jo Freeman’s The Bitch Manifesto, she states “To be able to live, a woman has to agree to serve, honor, and obey a man and what she gets in exchange is at best a shadow life. Bitches refuse to serve, honor or obey anyone.”
You can read here how Jo Freeman defines what a “bitch” is and how “bitches” are superior to other women. Was Jo Freeman a feminist?
The Redstockings Manifesto echoes the same sentiments as The SCUM Manifesto and The Bitch Manifesto. The Redstockings Manifesto claims, “All men receive economic, sexual, and psychological benefits from male supremacy. All men have oppressed women.”
After defining men as the oppressive elite, this manifesto, in its own words, “identifies with all women” and compels them to fight the oppressive males. You can see it for yourself here. Does this literature accurately represent feminism?
Was Andrea Dworkin a feminist? Do her ideas accurately represent feminism? Is she right when she defines political conservatism as a purely masculine idea used as a tool to enslave women in her book Right-Wing Women? Is she right when she claims that the only reason women adhere to conservative ideas, although no woman truly believes conservative ideology, is because they are afraid of the men in their lives?
Does she accurately represent feminist sentiment when she says, “I want to see a man beaten to a bloody pulp with a high-heel shoved in his mouth like an apple in the mouth of a pig” from her novel, Mercy?
Was Sally Gearhart a feminist? In her book, The Future--If There Is One--Is Female, she maintains that “The proportion of men must be reduced to and maintained at approximately 10% of the human race."
Was Margaret Sanger a feminist? She spoke at a Ku Klux Klan meeting in 1926. In her own words, they enjoyed the speech so much that she received many invitations to come back. She also wrote, concerning the Negro Project, “We do not want word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out the idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.” Granted, she does not say in her letter if she means whether she is concerned about misinformation or if she is concerned about her intention to kill black people being learned. Regardless, she focused many of her centers in black neighborhoods for the explicit goal of attracting black people.
Is Christina Hoff Sommers a feminist? She is the author of the book Who Stole Feminism? and The War Against Boys. She hosts a Youtube show called The Factual Feminist where she actively criticizes mainstream feminist (or at least those who claim to be feminist) claims of inequality, such as the gender pay gap and rape culture.
Is Gloria Steinem a feminist? Gloria Steinem is a founder of the magazine Ms. Does she represent feminist sentiment by describing women who disagree with her as “Uncle Tom Women” in her article here?
I recognize that listing every single self-proclaimed feminist and judging them on an individualistic basis would take a very long time, so I'm not going to do it. Modern feminism, from what I can tell, does not have a centralizing authority aside from a vague concept of being pro-woman, the manifestations of which are difficult to define consistently. I could have very easily missed something and if I have, please show me. Until then, I would suggest making an effort to distance yourself from what you do not consider feminism and adhere closely to what you do consider feminism.
