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Are you a feminist? (If so why, if not why not?) (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 1 week ago by dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Might help also to describe what you think feminism is, since it's one of those terms that is overloaded.

I once had a physical therapist tell me she wasn't a feminist because she thought women couldn't be as physically capable as men when serving as soldiers, and seemed to believe feminism requires treating women exactly like men.

I told her I was a feminist because I believe in equal rights for men and women, an idea she did not seem so opposed to.

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[-] DavidDoesLemmy@aussie.zone 11 points 1 week ago

Labels that start off as descriptive become prescriptive. People who associate strongly with a label are less likely to have nuance to their views or change their minds. It becomes us and them.

You can become a prisoner of your labels.

[-] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago

isn't feminism prescriptive / normative to begin with? It's not a neutral description of injustice, it's a call to action, a movement ... no?

I hear you on the strong connection to a label, the way us-them dynamics can be dangerous - but the extreme opposite doesn't seem to work either, so I don't see this as a full justification of rejecting labels. If you are invested in a movement towards equal rights, sometimes having a banner to organize under and communicate by is useful ... it might be helpful to think of a time before the feminist movement existed, and the motivations that exist for the movement.

[-] DavidDoesLemmy@aussie.zone 5 points 1 week ago

The fact that there are so many definitions of what feminism is, shows that the label is not super useful. If you say you're a feminist, you then have to explain which version you're taking about.

It could be anything from "people should be given equal opportunity" to the extreme "all sex between a man and a women is rape"

this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2025

128 points (92.1% liked)

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