Call me feminist: Or is it time to junk the F-word?

“It’s a bit of an old-fashioned word. It’s used more in a way to minimise you,” said actress Susan Sarandon in a Guardian interview, when asked the incendiary question: “Would you call yourself a feminist?” Sarandon’s reason for jettisoning the word: “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.” [caption id=“attachment_942465” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The truly feminist worldview is invested in fighting patriarchy and creating a more just, humane world for all people, including men. Reuters[/caption] In other words, let’s hold on to all the ideals of feminism — gender equality, freedom, respect — but junk the word because it has been co-opted and turned into an anti-woman slur. It’s a seductive idea and not a new one. It has long been popular with our actresses who consistently take pains to distance themselves from the F-word, even as they affirm their own autonomy. Madhuri Dixit was the latest to echo the popular Bollywood line. “I don’t think I’m a feminist. I am independent and strong, which is what women should be like,” she said at a press conference promoting Gulabi Gang, a film about “women’s empowerment.” So what’s in a word? Feminism, humanism. Tomatoes, Tomahtoes. Or do we cede its most valuable principles in ceding the word ? I posed this question to the members of a working women’s network and support group I belong to in Bangalore. These responses from well-educated, professional, independent women were hugely illuminating. They reflect the ongoing effort amongst the most visible winners of ’new’ India to make sense of feminism, both in substance and as a word. Why the F-word matters One, history matters, and so does feminism. “I am a feminist and will never be ashamed to call myself that,” says Kavitha Rao, “I think women who are not feminists misunderstand the whole concept of feminism and don’t realise that it was feminism that won us the vote, equal pay, the pill, property rights, the right to education… the list is endless.” In discarding the word ‘feminism,’ we dishonour the struggles of women who came before us and made possible the freedoms we enjoy today. Standing on their shoulders, we either distance ourselves from them because it is no longer socially desirable, or worse, erase their role making our present lives possible. Two, it’s not about you, it’s about us. “The Madhuri statement reeks of self-absorption,” says Meghna Prasad, “Feminism is about the world around you - and fighting the fight for all those women, men, children who aren’t blessed with the same level of privilege. It is about thinking about the system and not just about oneself as an individual.” Prasad and others argue that it is wrong to reduce feminism to just women’s rights. The truly feminist worldview is invested in fighting patriarchy and creating a more just, humane world for all people, including men. “Contrary to popular belief, feminism does include men’s rights as well. That’s because although feminism originated as a movement aimed at ’equal rights for women,’ it has grown to be much more than that,” says Hugs Boson, “Today, feminism critiques the very fabric of society by studying culture through the feminist lens, because it has been established that patriarchal norms have seeped through *all* nooks and crevices of our culture… Today, feminism talks about male rape, gay rights, trans* rights, and many other issues that weren’t at the forefront of the feminist movement when it was at its infancy.” Three, we’re nowhere close to a world where feminism is redundant. “I get angry with modern so called independent women icons passing the message to the youth that ‘feminism’ is uncool and not required,” says Monika Manchanda, “It has brought us in a better position and it will be the only thing that will take us ahead. Look at Nigella, look at Bartoli being shamed. there is a lot more to done before feminism becomes redundant. A lot.” We still live in a deeply unequal world where women are the victims of sexist discrimination, great and small. It is disingenuous to pretend that a woman-centric rights movement – and label – is no longer necessary, or even less so. “How has the nature of the struggle changed, please?” asks Rao, “Steinem el al did not just fight for the right to vote and the pill, they also fought for women not to be seen as sex objects and subject to rape and physical abuse. This is a battle that we all fight everyday. We are fooling ourselves by giving the movement non-threatening names, when so many women in this country are centuries away from being equal.” Why the F-word is passé One, what about the men?  “I believe in inclusion and feminism has left out men in its agenda. I think women as well as men have to reclaim parts of themselves because of patriarchy… and therefore Susan’s term “humanist” works well for me,” says Bindu Vaz, “But having said that, a word or a label is not what I am interested in. I am interested in the cause. So sure, I do believe in the cause of feminism. [But] if the word is alienating some people because of what it has come to stand for, then it is time to junk it.” Feminism’s victories aside, one lesson of its failures is that true progress requires a worldview that focuses not solely on women, but on all the victims of an unjust system, including men. If feminism represents an investment in creating a better world for all, why limit yourself to a word that speaks of only one half of humanity? Two, we no longer need it. “I acknowledge all that feminism has accomplished but I do believe the nature of the struggle has changed. I know if there was a movement called Equalism, I’d subscribe in a second,” says Sumana Mukherjee. “I don’t mean the struggle is over – just that it has moved to a different phase, as any long-lived struggle must to be meaningful. In the context of India, I also think it is men who need to be emancipated, much more than women.” Feminism has made itself redundant. A gender-focused worldview was necessary to win the important victories that established the equality of women, but we now need to move to a broader understanding of a more complicated world. Old truisms of feminism are inadequate to tackle a far more complex reality. “Yes, radical bra-burning and the Suffragettes gave us the Vote and the Pill. But you know what? That battle is mostly done. Today, women in Central Congo would give an arm and a kidney for a good, support-built feeding bra. I know of whole communities where have no time for the Vote but would rather have access to child-care support systems that traditional set-ups provide,” points out Suhasini Rao-Kashyap Three, I am a person, not a woman. “I do agree with Susan Sarandon and Marissa Mayer particularly. Equalist is a term I would rather describe myself. Being raised as an equal already, I don’t feel the need to fight for my rights. I will equally support an underdog - female or male!” says Kapila Sengupta, echoing the view of a new generation of women who view gender as a self-limiting identity. “I find it difficult to appreciate gender identity in most situations - to me, people are people first. Little wobbly bits are incidental to identity,” says Rao-Kashyap, who says her appreciation for a Simone De Beauvoir does not however make her inclined to “hold up a placard.” If faced with an instance of injustice, “I’d slug it out, sue - if needed, but I’d do it because (1) The concept makes sense and (2) I can (and not because I am female, biologically).” Firstpost editor R Jagannathan, in an essay titled “Why I am not a feminist,” argued, “Women’s rights emerge from the fundamental human rights we are all entitled to. There is no female source for it. Hence, feminism, for me, is a limiting idea. It is useful to mention it till women achieve equality and feel empowered enough to abandon it. After a while it will be a drag, for the idea is exclusive.” Fair enough, but are we there yet? Gauging by the reactions of my peers, the jury is divided. As for me,I personally don’t find the word ‘feminist’ limiting or exclusive since it is only one among my multiple identities – liberal, democrat, humanist, individualist etc. – which seep into and colour one another. Besides, there are innumerable feminisms – each to his/her own – so to reject the term wholesale because of some choose to interpret it as being a ‘strident bitch’ seems silly. More to the point, I will be damned if I am going to allow men who disdain women and their rights shame me out of owning that label. Feminist I  am, and so will remain – without apologies or reservations.