Feminism is a bit of an old fashioned word

[catgirl1976]

According to Susan Sarandon

here

Thought this was interesting as a lot of women do seem to be put off by the word whilst still supporting the ideal IYSWIM

Yes, I read the interview this morning. Feminism and humanism are not interchangeable ideologies. it's a shame SS is so concerned about alienating assholes.

I read this today and was very . Especially the bit where she describes how her daughter doesn't identify as feminist because..well I can't remember exactly.

Pressed send too soon. The fact her daughter has been bought up in an ultra privileged environment with every advantage possible seems to have passed her by somewhat.

Surely the concepts are more important than the labels associated with political movements. The only exception might be were language changes so a term becomes associated with something offensive or harmful (e.g. organisations that previously had words like crippled, handicapped, homosexual, etc. in the title.) This isn't the case with the term "feminism."

I often wonder if those who fixate on the names of things are just looking for an excuse to part company with the concept, but don't want to be honest about their reasoning.

Quote from Susan Sarandon from the article : "I think of myself as a humanist because I think it's less alienating to people who think of feminism as being a load of strident bitches and because you want everyone to have equal pay, equal rights, education and healthcare."

What she describes is not humanism.

My understanding of humanism is that it is a philosophy based on the idea that humans derive meaning in their life from reason and free will, not from gods or the supernatural.

Yes, she doesn't seem to understand that humanism as a phrase has been taken, and she can't just create a meaning for it. Well, she can (following on from my pro-life thread, where I was arguing that!), but she doesn't seem to be doing it intentionally to change the meaning of a term she dislikes.

I hate the fact that a ballsy, independent woman like her would be so concerned about 'alienating' people by saying 'you know what, the world is still patriarchal, so I'm a feminist'. It also seems to misunderstand feminism. You know, I'm quite partial to men getting access to healthcare too, it's just not a feminist issue per se. An important issue, but not a feminist one. It's a bit like saying 'no, I'm not pro-choice because I believe in research funding for recurrent miscarriage'. The one does not follow from the other.

unfortunately if it was called something else then the something else would be ridiculed/derided/seen as not cool etc etc

you can always use "women's liberation" when talking to others..

Is BoogieWoogieism taken? Because, not being a strident bitch, but yet wanting everyone even women to have fair go in life, leads me to identify with boogiewoogieism as a political concept.

I leave you with some wise words to ponder.

When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.

• Humpty Dumpty

"you want everyone to have equal pay, equal rights, education and healthcare."

Actually, if you want everyone to have equal pay and equal rights, you are in fact embracing some of the basic ideals of feminism.

The whole reason feminism came about, was precisely because we didn't and don't have equal rights. The media just pretends we have and those of us who aren't thick enough to fall for that, can be written off as strident bitches.