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From: ag1v+@andrew.cmu.EDU ("Andrea B. Gansley-Ortiz")
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Definition of feminism (VERY LONG)
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Date: 24 Oct 90 14:50:40 GMT
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Disclaimer: If I wrote it and didn't use evidence to back it up, then
it is [obviously] my opinion.


The word feminism is defined in my dictionary as: the theory of the
political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.  It is also
defined as: organized activity on behalf of women's rights.

The word feminism by itself means nothing else.  And in the beginnings
of feminism this is what it meant.  People were trying to get women
rights.  The rights that they were trying to get women were the same
rights that men presently had.  Therefore, what early feminists were
trying for was 'equality' with men.

How the use of the word feminism has evolved.

1.
Feminism has evolved into a derogatory word that deals with people who
wish to see society change from a patriarchal system into a
matriarchal one.

To buy into this brand of feminism you must believe that men and women
are inherently different in more than a biochemical sense.

2.
Feminism is a bunch of man-haters and lesbians who wish to erase any
authority or power that any man may have.

Although there are lesbians and men-haters who are also feminists,
they do not go hand in hand.  This is a very radical form of feminism
and doesn't represent the majority.  Remember that radicals are often
the loudest and the first and last to be heard. (nor are all rads
lesbians or men-haters.)

3.
Feminism is a political party that lobbies for women's rights and
special interests with no regard to the inequality of their own
policies.

This brand of feminism is often what political parties have.  I see
them as hypocrites.  To want equality and then not want to have women
drafted along with men is unfair.  This is not how I see feminism and
I don't understand how people stay with political parties like that.
Note that I am not for the draft.  But rather if one sex if drafted,
the other sex should be as well.

***

Those are some of the negative connotations of feminism that I have
seen on this group and in the newspaper and in the literature I have
read.

Someone who I think is a good example of a feminist is Eleanor
Roosevelt.  I also don't think she would describe herself as a
feminist.  She made opportunities for herself and made sure that she
wasn't stepped on by others.  (BTW, this was in her later life, it was
something she grew to do.)

My definition of feminism is the definition in the dictionary.
However, I don't think feminism can survive if it doesn't include the
equal rights of all humans.  This is (so I've been told)
egalitarianism.  I simply call it equalism.  If people want no
discrimination because of gender, I believe a long hard look needs to
be taken at no discrimination because of factors that are extremely
beyond our control. (In other words, no sex changes, bleaching of
skin, or having nasty drugs put in you to change your sexual
persuasion.)

This will lead people to say that we shouldn't discriminate based on
intellect or education.  If someone does not make the effort to attain
a skill or find that they do not possess the particular talent to
succeed at that skill, then they should not get the job.  This is
discriminatory.  However, I don't think it's the same kind of
discrimination people are talking about when one talks about feminism,
or blackism (to coin another's phrase).

I think I've put in about $1.50 worth of opinion here.  Feel free to
comment.  Flames to /dev/null. (whatever that means.)

Andrea Gansley-Ortiz (Yes I am female and hispanic, for those who keep track.)