When I was younger I too "ran a mile" from labelling myself a feminist. But that seemed to get me nowhere - you kind of have to accept that despite superficial appearances, and the odd real change, there is so, so much still to change before women are treated as equal beings - in the West, never mind anywhere else in the world. It's like saying that because there is a black president in the US, we may as well ditch the term racist, or anti-racist, etc - it's a change to be welcomed, but the beginning, not the end.
Feminism as a term is still valuable and valid because it's a reminder that this struggle is about women, and that the voices of women are still too muffled and pushed down. Yes, there are other battles still to be fought in other areas of equality, but to drop the term feminist implies it's just not that important any more. But it's half the world. It is bloody important.
I think men can be feminists, though, dittany - I don't think you have to have the full experience of being a woman to be a feminist; I've experienced relatively little discrimination as a woman, so my experience isn't that of other feminists, and I think standing together with the same "label" makes a stronger impact that something like "pro-feminist". Which mostly makes me think of yoghurt.
The media image/body image thing, while important, is in danger of side-tracking more important issues, I think, and so I don't agree it's the best place to start - it still focuses on women in terms of their self-image and perception of how they look - yes, changing that would be good, but there are much more fundamental issues to be dealt with.