(no subject)

[maevele]

Is Intersectional Feminist like, a thing yet? as in, can I call myself that in order to hang on to the root idea behing feminism [sexismbad] while disassociating from feminists who have clued out on intersectionality?

because I obviousl can't just say 'I'm a feminist' anymore, and haven't been able to in a long ass time

Comments

[were_duck]

Ooooh, that is a great idea.

[daedala]

Does "third wave feminist" get at that idea?

[damned_colonial]

I don't think so, or at least, not enough. I think of 3rd wave as being what I was experiencing in the 90s -- think riot grrls -- and the intersectionality stuff is something I've only started really grokking in the last little while. I suspect we're heading rapidly into 4th wave here.

[dharma_slut]

"I'm an intersectionalist."

HMM...

Boys will hear that and think you're going to fuck them...

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Womanism seems a lot more hip to intersectionality.

I tend to say "I'm a feminist, but not one of, you know, THOSE feminists," which is pretty inadequate.

[maevele.livejournal.com]

I'm not comfortable using womanism, what with being white as hell.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Ah, right, I couldn't remember in my caffeine-free state if you were white or a POC. I don't use it either, for the same reason...but I wish feminism would try to learn from it.

[emzebel.livejournal.com]

The problem with saying "not one of THOSE feminists" is that language has been used by the very people not embrasing intersectionality to distinguish themselves from those hairy legged lesbians over there that embarass them.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Ah, good point. I tend to clarify, depending on what conversation I'm in...sometimes it's obvious where the lines are and sometimes not. In RL conversation I usually just say "I'm a feminist" without qualifications since I spend (too much) time surrounded by non-feminists. Online I tend to throw in various modifiers like "anti-racist" and "pro-disability-rights" and so forth, except in cases like this where I'm mainly tempted to say "I'm a feminist...but not an asshole like those assholes commenting in that thread!"

What I don't do is say "I'm not a feminist because feminists are (X)," because I don't want to let racist, ableist, heterosexist & cissexist jerks steal feminism.

Maybe "Progressive Feminist" would be more descriptive...?

[leeoakfire.livejournal.com]

Have you considered "radical feminist"?

[maevele.livejournal.com]

turns out people using the term radical feminist are some of the most, um, problematic ones I am trying to distance myself from, with their anti trans stuff and their 'only women's oppression rly counts'

which hardly seems radical, but they took the word

[leeoakfire.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry ... I didn't realize that was the case. I have self-identified as a radical feminist for many years, and I try to look at all oppressions.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

"Radical Feminism" already has a specific meaning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_feminism) that's mostly unrelated to intersectional issues (other than class).

[leeoakfire.livejournal.com]

Well, I would disagree with the definition which is in the link. But .. that is me. Obviously, other opinions vary. For myself, as a self-described radical feminist, the goal is to look at the roots of what has caused the oppression. And, in my opinion, the roots of patriarchy run through all of the oppressions -- every one of them. So, in working to create an egalitarian society, we need to address them all. But, looks like that is my own opinion as a radical feminist and doesn't reach what you are looking for. Hope you find a word that you are comfortable with.

[emzebel.livejournal.com]

If Intersectional Feminist isn't yet a term, we should make it one.

[sophy.livejournal.com]

IAWTC.

[shemale.livejournal.com]

you can be anti-sexism without wanting to associate yourself with a movement as fucked as feminism

[annaham.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, it tends to be more accepted in academic circles (although that's probably my bias showing ^-^)...other places, though, not so sure.

[leeoakfire.livejournal.com]

I knindof know what you mean. The day my sister kidnapped my mother was the day I disassociated from the "feminist" label. I chose to do that because my sister was the one who introduced me to feminism [1], but I realized that she was only interested in being self-centered, and only caring about what effects her personally. She didn't care about any of the othe isms, especially poverty and mental illness. She treated my mother disrespectfully for the last forty years because my mother had some mental illness. So, that is why I quit using that word on that day.

[1[ -- my sister was/is a fairly prominent second wave feminist; she won the Susan B. Anthony Award from N.O.W. for pioneering rape research, plus did a bunch of other stuff. She used to be my role model and my hero. Not any more.