A recent article by Jessica Valenti, “Who Stole Feminism?”, published in The Nation (http://www.thenation.com/article/155109/who-stole-feminism), discusses how the feminist movement is being hijacked by politicians who have distinctly anti-woman beliefs. I thought the article was really interesting, because it talks about how Third Wave feminism is often ignored or derided by older feminists who were part of earlier movements, which makes it easy for others to take over the term and use it for their own gain.
Valenti is right in discussing how Second Wave feminists can be very harmful to the movement as it changes with time. By placing strict barriers on what feminism is, they push away women who don’t fit into the white, middle-class mold. Valenti’s views on the 2008 election are also really interesting. It is true that many left-wing women were scorned for not supporting Hillary – but the fact that some feminists chose to support Sarah Palin after Clinton’s loss is mind-blowing. Sarah Palin approaches Christine O’Donnell in being as anti-feminist as you can be, yet they get paraded around as female leaders in their parties. Being a woman alone does not make you a feminist and it’s scary to see how these women laud their beliefs and use the term to win over conservative and moderate female voters.
I think Valenti has good ideas about how to win the movement back, by promoting women’s and girl’s organizations that truly help women and support gender equality. We need to show people that we can be a more united front and that while feminism can be very inclusive of different beliefs, holding anti-woman beliefs and calling yourself a feminist isn’t okay.
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