What it Means to be a Feminist

Feminism has gained a resurgence in these recent years. It’s the hottest trend. Celebrities have either aligned or unaligned themselves with it. But what does it really mean to be a feminist? As Aziz Ansari said, if you believe men and women are equal, then you’re a feminist.

I disagree.

I’ve always been a feminist. Whether it was six-year-old me, shunning Bollywood for always trapping women in unwanted marriages, or thirteen year old me, shunning my parents for enforcing sexist standards on my body, I’ve always upheld the ideals of independence and the freedom to choose. I like to believe that I grew into my ideals.

Feminism has always been an important part of my life, especially as a woman. Without feminism, I wouldn’t have the right to vote, laws protecting me against abuse, assault, rape, and so on and so forth. I believe in it, almost the same way that devout Christians believe in God. I believe in the capability of ideas and theory to turn into praxis, and for this practice of feminism to change our lives and reorder our society in a way that benefits us all, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, gender identity, class, and abilities.

But there is a very important distinction to make between being a feminist, and being an egalitarian. Aziz Ansari has said that believing that men and women are equal makes you a feminist by default. But in the same way that racism has a more complicated definition than what you would find in your Oxford dictionary, I contend that feminism is much the same and that it has a complicated history that one must understand before they claim this label.

In a class discussion early this semester in my Introduction to Women and Gender Studies class, a fellow student brought up the question of the difference between calling yourself an egalitarian and calling yourself a feminist. The conclusion of that discussion was that because of the complicated history of the word feminist, and the demonization of the word itself, calling yourself a feminist was a political statement. It was an outcry against patriarchy and against the ideals that governed so much of our history and shaped so much of our policies. But more importantly, it was against the status quo. Even today, calling yourself a feminist is against the status quo. Because of course, we all have to get along with sexist jokes we hear and racist stereotypes being enforced. Those who don’t are simply spoiling the fun.

I think that as feminists, we have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to unlearn the misogynist, racist, classist, ableist, homophobic, and transphobic behavior we learned growing up. It is an uphill battle. It is unlearning and relearning and understanding that while you may not relate to everyone’s experiences, they are still valid. It’s easy to call yourself a feminist but then turn around and enforce a sexist stereotype. A lot of people do that because it’s the easy way out. But if you truly believe that men and women are equal, and if you truly believe that everyone is deserving of social, economic, and political equality regardless of their background, then it’s important to look within yourself and understand your privilege. That’s the first step to achieving this dream. There is no such thing as a perfect feminist. But there’s certainly one that tries and, that is a start.