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Feminism: Sex & gender discussions

What kind of feminist am I?

51 replies

Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 10:17

So, I'm a long time lurker but not posted before. My favourite place to hang out is the feminist chat room. Here's my thing. I've been a feminist all my life, even when it was really unfashionable in the late 90s! Recently I've become a lot more interested in it, mainly thanks to looking on here. But what kind of feminist am I and does it matter? I did a serious seeming online quiz and I turned out to be a mix of everything but a bit more in the liberal feminist camp. Not sure if I agree with this. Isn't Liberal Feminism a bit wishy washy - do anything you like sort of thing? My views aren't like that - I think we need to take political action to achieve the aims of feminism.
I suppose I'd really like to know what kind of feminist are you? What does that mean you believe? And does it even matter at all anyway?

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YonicProbe · 15/11/2016 10:27

A lot of us did that quiz - it was funny!

I just self define as feminist, some of my views would probably be libfem and some radfem.0

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BlackBileYellowBile · 15/11/2016 10:31

I'm shopping around for a kind of intersectional feminism which embodies trans activism without the really really insane and unreconcilable with feminist ideals kind of activism

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YetAnotherSpartacus · 15/11/2016 10:31

Please post the link!

I self-identify as proudly second wave and as a socialist feminist, with rad fem 'rising', as 'they' (astrologers) say.

Liberal feminism was a totally different entity in my day, by the way!

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Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 10:37

I'll try and paste the link. It's quite academic this one - maybe I should try the fun one yonic!
personality-testing.info/tests/FPS.php

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Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 10:48

Thanks for all of your responses. So it seems I could be a bit of a few things. If anyone asked me I'd probably say I was a 'gender critical feminist ' though surely surely it's not possible to be a feminist without being gender critical? Am I right?
Also I need to read some good feminist literature- non-fiction. I already read loads of fiction. I want to read The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. What else could I read?

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YetAnotherSpartacus · 15/11/2016 10:50

I got

What kind of feminist am I?
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Xenophile · 15/11/2016 10:54

Apparently I am still classed as a radical feminist.

Which is quite lucky really, because I have a T-Shirt with that written across the chest and I rather like it.

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YetAnotherSpartacus · 15/11/2016 10:56

As for what you should read ... my preference is for the old stuff published in the 70s and 80s. It still speaks to me.

What issues are you interested in? That may be a way to decide.

Or, go to a good library with non-fiction and simply browse ...

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Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 10:56

Similar- ish to what I got except liberal feminist came out on top. Cultural feminist was lower and I got a v low score for conservative (which seemed to be statements that weren't feminist).

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YetAnotherSpartacus · 15/11/2016 10:57

I have a badge saying "ask me about my radical feminist agenda". It's not as good as a Mog soft-toy though :( (re the Christmas ad thread).

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BeyondReasonablyDoubts · 15/11/2016 10:57

I came out equal radfem and ecofem, followed by liberal and socialist, iirc.

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Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 11:01

Xeno I would love a t-shirt like that except mine would say 'I'm not really sure erm some kind of feminist anyhow '.
Yetanother so obviously I need to read Germaine Greer then, but who else. I was a kid in the 80s.

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Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 11:03

My library just has Catlin Moran.

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Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 11:04

I know I'm lazy because I could just google it I know. I just prefer recommendations.

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BertrandRussell · 15/11/2016 11:11

If you think that there needs to be structural change then you're a radical feminist. Yay! The very best sort!

Mind you, I think that all these divisions tend to divide in an unhelpful way. And I also think that some of the categories allow people who do not have feminist views at all to call themselves feminist.........[tin hat emoticon]

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Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 11:16

Thanks Bertrand. I was secretly hoping I'd come out as radical feminist on the test!

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Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 11:17

Plus do explain a bit more - I won't throw rocks at you.

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GreenGoth89 · 15/11/2016 11:17

I came out as socialist and then radical. What the hell is a cultural feminist anyway??

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YetAnotherSpartacus · 15/11/2016 11:23

If you think that there needs to be structural change then you're a radical feminist. Yay! The very best sort!

Or socialist :)

Yeah, I was puzzling over 'conservative feminist'!????

As for books - the list is so huge that I would not know where to start. Yes, there is Greer and also Dworkin and Millet and Friedan ... Maybe you could look up a good book on the history of feminism? That might give you a grounding. the BBC series on the Suffragettes is also a great place to start.

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YetAnotherSpartacus · 15/11/2016 11:27

Cultural feminists include Susan Griffin and a few of the Greenham women. They are sometimes known as eco-feminists because they also argue that men are responsible for all the ills of environmental destruction and war.

Basically, they contend that there are essentially different (genetic, bodied, hormonal) differences between men and women and that there is an oppressed and hidden female nature that is allowed to flourish would rid the world of war because we are all so peace-loving as a result of being child-bearers, etc. See also 'goddess worship' and feminist witchcraft.

I have a book for you! Marge Piercy "Woman On the Edge of Time". It is a novel that explains a lot of second wave thinking ...

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ComputerDog · 15/11/2016 11:31

I am a liberal feminist according to that quiz...although I'd agree with a PP that this sort of division is quite unhelpful in the grand scheme of things!

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ComputerDog · 15/11/2016 11:35

yetanother Interesting! So, having said I don't think these divisions are actually that helpful...I'm definitely NOT a cultural feminist Shock

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Seachangeshell · 15/11/2016 11:36

Thanks everyone. I find all of this so fascinating. I will check out those books.
I'm so excited about this stuff. Mumsnet has a lot to answer for!

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almondpudding · 15/11/2016 12:41

I got about the same score for every kind of feminism. I disagree with that result and would consider myself more of a socialist feminist (to use their terms) than any other kind.

I wouldn't consider myself particularly to be a WOC feminist, but don't see how anyone who wasn't strongly racist could score low based on the questions for that category.

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FruitCider · 15/11/2016 13:06

The only surprising result of mine is the high score for radfem!

What kind of feminist am I?
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