Nicola Horlick says she is not a feminist. Does Nicola Horlick know what a feminist is??

is kate price feminist then?she present self as sexual

Is Kate Middleton a feminist?

Is any woman who represents herself as sexual not a true feminist?

Think that makes sense stillstanding. Now I think about it, many women I know are not overly political, and therefore do not associate feminism with themselves. Had this conversation with a friend the other day. She was genuinely surprised that I maintained she should feel like a feminist, as a woman with female relatives. She felt that naming herself as feminist would impede her free choices if they were seen to be "traditional"

Surely there needs to be clarity before you nail your colours to a mast?

Does anyone know what a feminist is?

not at all.if she feels incongruent with that label then it still doesnt make render her less than someone who is comfortable to use.seeing it so concretely doesn't allow for individual actions and interpretations. problem woth applying an label is that all labels come with associated baggage that may not suit or be applicable

up to her how she defines and associates herself.doesnt make her a lesser woman

Yes, have re-read your post and can see that clearly now Alice. I should point out that I talk as a "gut" feminist, rather than one who has widely read on the issues. Think so many women misinterpret feminism and believe it to be incompatible with, for example, being a SAHM, wanting to be married. This is why so many people, men and women, are naysayers.

I think that Faludi's backlash did talk about old backlashes. Framed as a cyclical thing, with a backlash every time progress is made.

agree with your analysis, AliceWorld but I would locate it much earlier than the backlash.
The feminist movement faced opposition and undermining from the outset from those who wanted to preserve the status quo

itsalarf - I don't know if you were responding to me but I'm not disagreeing with you. I see this too. I was explaining where I think this misrepresentation comes from. Feminist ideas have been separated from feminism and replaced with a caricature. And I'd locate this in the backlash.

"I'm not a feminist but.... I will take the vote, equal pay, rights to own property, protection against DV, maternity pay, protection against being sacked for being pregnant, protection against sexual harassment that all those 'aggressive man haters' fought for, whilst at the same time insulting them and denigrating them."

Agreed.
So, if feminism is defined and characterised by the desire to establish and protect equal opportunities for women...
and Nicola Horlick says this is not a feminist..
then Nicola Horlick is a moron who is contributing, shamelessly and unforgivably, to those who don't want women to have equal opportunities with men.
She is not just colluding with the backlash, she is adding to it.
Shame on her.

No, I know plenty of women who claim not to be feminists, despite behaving in a perfectly feminist manner. When questionned they often raise the "aggressive man hating" issue.

I think the 'branding' is part of the backlash. People who are opposed to feminism undermine it periodically by misrepresenting what it is.

I am interested about the idea of 'branding' of feminism putting (some) women off the idea.
What is the feminism 'brand'?
Who controls the 'brand'?

Oh fuck it... I hate when someone I have always admired turns out to have feet of clay. I had the chance to meet her fairly recently but chickened out. Now, if I get the chance again, this will be all I can think of.

Have not posted on "feminism" board before, but agree that it is the branding of feminism that causes so many obviously feminist women to deny it. They associate it with being an aggressive man hater.

I think you often find that very intelligent and successful people are staggeringly ignorant about stuff you would expect everyone to know about . Presumably because the reason for their success is partly because they are so focused on their goals that they simply do not waste time reading or talking or thinking about anything else. So it doesn't surprise me that someone who is held up by the media as the quintessential career woman and working mother would not have a clue what feminism means.

I can also imagine her not spending an awful lot of time with politicised women; she probably works with men, doesn't have much time for socialising outside work, and doesn't often talk about non-work or -family related things. I mean if she had a spare 20 mins on a train she would be on her Blackberry getting stuff done, not reading The Guardian or browsing interesting blogs on the internet.