It’s quite hard to pin down exactly what a feminist is

It’s quite hard to pin down exactly what a feminist is

Feminist campaigns have been credited with all kinds of leaps in societies around the world, from universal suffrage to reproductive rights for women, access to education, employment law and those relating to sexual discrimination.

They have also been blamed for everything from a rise in women in prisons and demonising men to destroying the ‘traditional’ family unit, whatever that is.

And for some the term ‘feminist’ has been turned into something ugly, negative and scary.

But what exactly is feminism? And am I a feminist?

The broadly accepted definition is that it is the ‘advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes’.

Sounds simple, right? And on that level yes, I’m in.

But it isn’t that simple, however much we try to insist that it is. And it’s probably closer to reality to describe it as a collection of movements, ideologies and concepts that share similar goals.

There are whole books dedicated to the discussion, and not even Google can give you a straight answer if you ask ‘am I a feminist?’

Which is exactly why it’s okay to say I don’t know. I might be. I might just be a normal woman living in the 21st century in favour of equality. Which in turn may actually make me a feminist, I’m not sure.

But not being sure doesn’t make me a rubbish woman, or any less passionate about equal rights or qualified to fight for them. Just like wanting more women in the States and gender pay gaps to be revealed, as they are being in the UK, does not automatically make me a feminist.

I was outraged, for example, that the Scrutiny Office sent a letter to the Chamber of Commerce addressed to ‘Dear Sirs’, and not only because of the large numbers of women involved in the running of the organisation.

And on International Women’s Day too, not that it would be okay on any day of the year.

Journalists have a big part to play in the pressure to assign labels, I know. It’s also a human-nature thing.

We want to categorise people, group them and describe them, mainly so that it’s clear in our own heads where this person fits into the grand scheme of things.

Are they left or right? A parent? Jersey born? Are they a campaigner? A former something or other? Or do they currently hold some other title within society?

And, often alongside a host of other labels, are they a feminist?

I’ve always had a problem with the whole left/right political thing, believing that it isn’t always clear cut and to label people either way automatically pigeonholes them in a way that in our system of independent Members is unnecessary.

And perhaps feminism is the same – it helps the media with a label, perhaps even the wider public categorise you too. But on a personal level, it isn’t for everyone, even if they do agree with the basics that it stands for.

Meanwhile, there are murmurings that this year’s election could well be the ‘year of the women’.

Women In Politics is working hard to help encourage women to engage and to support female candidates, and there has been a lot more discussion about the need for greater female representation than at any other election in recent memory.

There are also a number of new and serving female candidates putting themselves out there for election.

Some would proudly declare themselves feminist, others are less quick to, despite being strong advocates of many feminist principles.

Which, again, is completely fine.

Because there’s room for a new injection of women into Jersey politics and ones that will fight for all sorts of causes – not just the traditionally ‘female’ ones, from all sorts of perspectives, feminist and otherwise.

And saying so doesn’t necessarily make me a feminist, just a realist.

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