This comment by Mary Sunshine to a rather sensationalized article by Anna Greer effectively illustrates why many women (and men) have given up on calling themselves feminist.

Well, yeah - but 99% of the other web-users are anti-feminist, either actively or passively. 99% of all women now would far rather be called bitches, sluts or hos than feminists. Extreme? Well, that’s what I get from my awareness that 99% of all females are of the “I’m a feminist BUT …” or “I’m not a feminist BUT …” or just plain old “I’m not a feminist” persuasion. And I’m not even counting all the women who say “I’m a FEMINIST !!! ” and then proceed to cheer wildly in favour of rape, porn, sadomasochism, etc.etc.

On one hand she laments that many women don't want to be called feminist and in the next breath denounces women who call themselves feminist but don't have the exact same views as her. While some people may resiliently stick to their guns and insist they are feminist and that no single ideology has a monopoly on the term, others will simply say "Oh, okay. I guess I'm not a feminist". I've known quite a few people who fall into the latter category. People who might otherwise have identified as feminists, now entirely estranged from the movement.

I'm rethinking the rant I wrote about a month ago rejecting labeling myself "feminist". Perhaps it is not a label I should so hastily reject. This brings to mind the question: "Why is a feminist?".

Yes, I've heard the simplistic answer many times: "a feminist is someone who believes women are people too" or any variation on that theme. But that dissolves quickly when one starts talking issues. The abortion, the rabid warthog of issues, easily breaks the illusion. Many pro-choice feminists declare that pro-life feminism is an oxymoron, and that legal unqualified abortion is the only true path of feminism. This clearly is an affront to pro-life feminists, who will inevitably tell you that they believe unborn women are people too. Whether or not pro-life feminism is valid, this conflict alone shows that a simple definition is not going to suffice in defining what feminism is.

Perhaps asking "what is feminism" is a bit like asking "what is goth" on alt.gothic (is that still regularly asked?). Done over and over again, there is no real definition. It is a political orientation, the same way socialist and populist are. If it simply a political orientation, why should I reject it just because some fanatical organizations such as the MWMF claim it as well? Perhaps it is just a word, perhaps my gesture has no real meaning, but I might just call myself a feminist again.

A 50-year-old woman filed a federal lawsuit against Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center yesterday, saying she was forcibly undressed by five male security guards there last year after she refused a nurse's order to take off her clothes. The incident, which hospital officials have defended as necessary to make sure the woman was not hiding drugs or weapons, triggered flashbacks to childhood sexual abuse, according to the woman, Cassandra Sampson. She alleged in the suit that her civil rights were violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act, because hospital officials made no effort to protect her from psychological damage. Sampson said she went to the hospital for treatment of a severe migraine headache, but was moved to a psychiatric unit when she admitted struggling with self-destructive impulses. She said she pleaded to be allowed to keep at least her pants on before the strip search, but the nurse refused. ``Go ahead and rape me; everybody else has," Sampson said she cried out as the guards unbuckled her pants and removed them. ``They left me there with my underwear showing and my johnny up to my chest . . . I was crying, and [the nurse] said, `That's what you get for not listening to me.' " In a letter to Sampson, hospital officials said they were sorry she had such a terrible experience, but stood by their strict policy of searching psychiatric patients for their own benefit. ... A spokeswoman at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester said the hospital never asks psychiatric patients to undress on arrival. If they suspect the patient may be dangerous, security guards perform a clothed pat-down search. Dr. Maggie Bennington-Davis led a successful effort to stop strip searches of psychiatric patients at Salem Hospital in Oregon in 2003. ``We can't be hauling people in here and be doing more harm to them," she said. ``It's very clear that a strip search retraumatizes them." ... Sampson hadn't intended to go to Beth Israel's emergency room on March 25, 2005, according to the lawsuit. But it was a weekend, and her primary care physician said the ER would be the best place to get help for severe migraine headaches that had persisted for three days. However, as soon as Sampson told a nurse that she took psychiatric medications and that she had been battling impulses to hurt herself that week, the nurse said she would need a psychiatric evaluation. Nurse Heather A. Richter then told Sampson that she would need to completely undress, according to the lawsuit. full article

This is absolutely disgusting. How in the world could Beth Israel's staff think it was in any way appropriate to have 5 male security guards rip off a woman's clothing? This story not only illustrates the dangers of being admitted into psych hospital for victims of sexual assault or abuse, it also illustrates the dangers of telling the wrong person about your feelings and thoughts. Note that Sampson only had thoughts of self harm, not suicide. Her life was NOT at risk. Psych wards are at most about safety nowadays. She did not need the babysitting of a hospital and she definitely did not need to be further traumatized. It was only a panicky nurse that caused her to end up there, this did not need to happen at all.

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when I thought that people were missing the point if they said "'feminists' should call themselves 'equalists' if they truly embrace equality." Now, I think I may have been missing the point. While I agree with most strong feminist concepts, I do not feel part of the feminist "community" nor do I longer want to be part of it any longer. This has been eating at me more and more the past year.

When I was homeless in the Northampton/Amherst area, I had just as much trouble with "feminists" as I did with frat boys, both groups being endemic to the area. I was refused housing on the basis of being trans by both groups. But I still identified as feminist.

Recently, I've become more and more dissatisfied with the drama and the readiness of many feminists to shout "You're not a feminist if you are X"; X being a sex worker, a transsexual, a pro-lifer, or someone who disagrees with them. It's interesting that the same people who would readily deny people the feminist label will also state "a feminist is anyone who believes in equality for women". I've known a lot of people who stopped identifying as feminist for this very reason. The exchange goes as follows: "You're not a feminist." "Okay."

I have also come to dislike the feminist community's knack for grabbing a concept because it sounds or feels good, not because it makes sense. Personal opinions and beliefs are fine and can be based on whatever you want to base them on, but policy and law should be based on reason and logic. Reason and logic are not inherently male concepts nor are they dirty words, as I have heard some "feminists" actually claim.

Reading the blatant hatred and nastiness on MichFest Boards the other day have sealed the deal: While I may agree with most feminist concepts, I no longer want to be part of the "community". Feel free to label me whatever you want based on my views or your views or whatever, but I will from now on be calling myself a There was a time in the not-too-distant past when I thought that people were missing the point if they said "'feminists' should call themselves 'equalists' if they truly embrace equality." Now, I think I may have been missing the point. While I agree with most strong feminist concepts, I do not feel part of the feminist "community" nor do I longer want to be part of it any longer. This has been eating at me more and more the past year.

When I was homeless in the Northampton/Amherst area, I had just as much trouble with "feminists" as I did with frat boys, both groups being endemic to the area. I was refused housing on the basis of being trans by both groups. But I still identified as feminist.

Recently, I've become more and more dissatisfied with the drama and the readiness of many feminists to shout "You're not a feminist if you are X"; X being a sex worker, a transsexual, a pro-lifer, or someone who disagrees with them. It's interesting that the same people who would readily deny people the feminist label will also state "a feminist is anyone who believes in equality for women". I've known a lot of people who stopped identifying as feminist for this very reason. The exchange goes as follows: "You're not a feminist." "Okay."

I have also come to dislike the feminist community's knack for grabbing a concept because it sounds or feels good, not because it makes sense. Personal opinions and beliefs are fine and can be based on whatever you want to base them on, but policy and law should be based on reason and logic. Reason and logic are not inherently male concepts nor are they dirty words, as I have heard some "feminists" actually claim.

Reading the blatant hatred and nastiness on MichFest Boards the other day have sealed the deal: While I may agree with most feminist concepts, I no longer want to be part of the "community". Feel free to label me whatever you want based on my views or your views or whatever, but I will from now on be calling myself a equalist.