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From: ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (Mike Ciaraldi)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Male feminists?
Message-ID: <3702@rochester.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 4-Nov-83 17:46:18 EST
Article-I.D.: rocheste.3702
Posted: Fri Nov  4 17:46:18 1983
Date-Received: Mon, 7-Nov-83 03:56:12 EST
Sender: ciaraldi@rocheste.UUCP
Organization: U. of Rochester, CS Dept.
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From: Mike Ciaraldi  <ciaraldi>
I am interested in this, since for years I have fancied
myself a "feminist". I have had certain people say
to me, "no TRUE feminist would" do whatever I had done,
so maybe I am not a very good feminist.

What I am looking for is a definition of "feminism" or a
"feminist". It should be general and widely applicable,
independent of issues as much as possible, since these
may be transient or peripheral..
Using an example from politics, before World War I it was
considered "conservative" to be an isolationist; today's
conservatives are generally not isolationist, it is
more of a "liberal" trait. As mentioned in a previous message,
many issues have been considered by some to be "feminist",
while others have called them "religious", "humanitarian",
"libertarian", etc.

May I suggest something along the lines of:

"A feminist is a person who supports the improvement of
the condition of women in general, and the elimination
of prejudice or discrimination against them."

Comments are invited.

Mike Ciaraldi
ciaraldi@rochester