The Etymology Of “Feminism”
“Feminism” is a word that gets thrown around a lot in today’s media. But do you really know what that word means?
If you’re a little fuzzy on the definition you are not alone. I ran a Google Trends analysis for “what is feminism,” and as you can see the search has been rising for the past 10 years
The history of the word
So let’s start with the building blocks. “Femin-” comes from the latin root word “femina,” meaning woman. “-ism” is a suffix derived from the greek “ισμός” or “ismós” that turns the preceding noun into a verb, implying a belief, practice, or worldview.
The first recorded use of the word in English was 1851, but at that time it just meant “the state of being feminine.” Then, in 1837, French philosopher and utopian socialist Charles Fourier coined the word word “féminisme” to mean advocacy of women’s rights.
But what does it mean in 2017?
Do yourself a favor and do not bother with definitions on Urban Dictionary as they are mostly inaccurate. If you do take a look you’ll see that there are some very common misconceptions regarding the term. My favorite definition comes from Dr. Susan Currie Sivek
“Feminism is a movement that seeks equality for people of any gender. It is founded on the belief that people should be able to pursue any opportunity and demonstrate atny characteristic regardless of gender.”
Important things to note about feminism today: Both men and women can be feminists. Feminism is in favor of equality between genders, not dominance of women over men. Feminism is inclusive of people who are trans and who are non-binary.
If it’s pro-equality, why is it “feminism” and not “equalism” or “humanism” ?
Because historically, “feminism” the idea and “feminism” the word rose in popularity together during the U.S. women’s suffrage movement of the late 1800’s andearly 1900’s, which was focused on getting women the right to vote. Since this was a problem only hurting women, the name made sense. As time has gone on, the goals have evolved but the name has stuck.
Some people who believe in feminist ideology aren’t comfortable with the label because they believe it has negative connotations. I think that the people who argue in favor of changing “feminism” to “equalism” or “humanism” are overconcerned with semantics. If you want to change the word I urge you to sit really think about why. Why does the word bother you so much? Are you maybe so socially indoctrinated in patriarchy that your gut reaction is that anything relating to women is inherently worse/undesirable compared to things that are neutral or relating to men?
Empowerment v.s. feminism
Have you ever seen an ad targeted toward men use the word “empowering?” I certainly haven’t. But open any women’s magazine and you’ll see articles piled upon advertisements talking about “empowerment” and reviews of piece talking about how empowering they are.
Empowerment (and its various conjugations and forms) seems to be the popular media’s way of co-opting the popularity of feminism in today’s culture to sell things. This is “Empowertising,” a term coined by Andi Zeisler, c0founder of Bitch Media. She expands in her book “We Were Feminist Once”
“(Empowering) is both gender essentialist and commercially motivated. Over the past two decades a partial list of everything that has been deemed “empowering” by advertising campaigns, pop culture products, and feminist rhetoric include the following: high heels, flats, plastic surgery, embracing your wrinkles, having children, not having children, natural childbirth, having an epidural,learning self defense, buying a gun… being butch, being femme, driving a truck, riding a motorcyle, riding a bike, walking… being a good friend, being an asshole.”
Empowerment is a facet of “choice feminism.” “Choice feminism” is a type of new wave feminism where anything is a feminist choice if a feminist makes that choice. It focuses on individual achievement instead of systematic change. If you’re curious to hear Zeisler expand on this I highly recommend this interview: SMNTY @ Ladyfest podcast
So there are types of feminism?
There’s choice feminism, marketplace feminism, commodity feminism, capitalist feminism, first wave feminism, second wave feminism… The strains and definitions are evolving. Feminism belongs to the people who are feminists.
Please remember:
“Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women.”
— Emma Watson (source)
