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This is a genre of posts that\u2019s reappearing again (e.g., Rebecca Hamilton at Public Catholic<\/a>\u00a0and Rebecca Bratten Weiss at Suspended in Her Jar<\/a>), perhaps as a result of discussions around the \u201cwomen\u2019s march,\u201d so here\u2019s my take:<\/p>\n You can\u2019t just proclaim that you are (or aren\u2019t) a feminist without the word meaning something in particular. \u00a0And, near as I can tell, there are three competing definitions for the word.<\/p>\n Now, in terms of items number 2 and 3, I am decidedly not<\/em> a feminist. \u00a0But what about definition #1?<\/p>\n To be honest, I go back and forth on this. \u00a0There are plenty of people who will proudly claim the name \u201cfeminist\u201d to mean that they support equality for women, and their own particular take on policies that help women in their role as mothers, or to the degree that they are at greater risk of domestic violence, for instance.<\/p>\n But to use that label is either trivial and meaningless, or it implies that it\u2019s something out of the norm, that to believe this is something that requires its own label.<\/p>\n Do we need to claim an identity and a label for supporting equal rights for racial or religious minorities? \u00a0No, of course not. \u00a0Do we pat ourselves on the back for objecting to child abuse? \u00a0No.<\/p>\n It seems to me that adopting the label \u201cfeminist\u201d to refer to garden-variety equality suggests that it\u2019s not the norm, and that comes a bit too close to saying that it is<\/em> normal and perfectly acceptable to believe that women should, indeed, be discriminated against. \u00a0In reality, I believe equality under the law is pretty nearly universally accepted, which then returns us right back to the same questions of policy prescriptions.<\/p>\n Perhaps it\u2019s a matter of differentiating oneself from traditionalists who believe that, regardless of what the law permits, women should choose to stay at home to care for children? \u00a0But, if so, then what does the \u201cfeminist\u201d label mean? \u2014 that you believe that women should<\/em> be making the decision to put their kids in daycare and work, that staying home with young children is the wrong<\/em> decision?<\/p>\n So I don\u2019t really see the point in claiming the label, or rather in fighting with \u201cpublic policy feminists\u201d about what the word means. \u00a0They can have it. \u00a0To be sure, I\u2019d prefer they acknowledge that they have defined the term to mean a certain political\/public policy agenda rather than a generic belief in equality.<\/p>\n But what, then, about the label \u201cpro-life feminism\u201d?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n My opinion on this is a big, unqualified . . . maybe.<\/p>\n Again, multiple meanings:<\/p>\n Do those that use the label do so, in order to say, \u201cwe oppose abortion, but don\u2019t get the wrong idea; we\u2019re not those crazies who think that women should stay at home and wait on their husbands\u201d?<\/p>\n Which I understand as an impulse, though what aims at rejecting a stereotype might in the end reinforce it, to the extent that those that hear the message think, \u201cthe majority of those who are pro-life are exactly those crazies.\u201d<\/p>\n Or is this, again, the support of a set of policy prescriptions, namely, state-funded medical care, parental leave, child care, and a broad set of social welfare benefits? \u00a0That is, the same set of policies as \u201cpublic policy feminists\u201d profess, except more focus on mothers, and, without, of course, deeming abortion (and the celebration of casual sex) to be a key ingredient in women\u2019s equality?<\/p>\n And, to clarify, the issue becomes not the basic yes\/no of whether the state should be funding any such benefits, but it\u2019s a matter of degree, of level of generosity, and there is no easy answer here.<\/p>\n So it\u00a0irritates me to hear\u00a0the recurring claim that one is insufficiently pro-life unless one does, indeed, support all such benefits to such a degree of generosity that no women feels a financial pinch, let alone a squeeze, from having a child.<\/p>\n So\u00a0the phrase \u201cpro-life feminist\u201d doesn\u2019t seem like much of an improvement on just \u201cfeminist.\u201d<\/p>\n Third try . . .<\/p>\n What about the use of the label \u201cfeminist\u201d to identify the fact that I personally consider myself to be of equal worth to any man, of equal value in the workplace, and that I\u2019ve tried to achieve success in my career? \u00a0Well \u2014 except that I have been on a \u201cmommy track,\u201d working part-time since my oldest was born, first to keep my kids out of full-time daycare, and afterwards knowing that trying to manage a household with children, even school-aged children, is much more difficult with both parents working full-time, there\u2019s no real financial need, and I\u2019m sufficiently satisfied with work to not be upset about the lack of career advancement that I\u2019d be seeing if I was working full-time, willing to travel, etc. \u00a0 Do I earn considerably less than my husband, or than my colleagues who put in longer hours? \u00a0Yes, of course. \u00a0Does it bother me? \u00a0No. \u00a0After all, someday I hope to be earning even less, once I figure out how to get a job at a think tank rather than at a pension consulting firm.<\/p>\n This is my \u201cgeneric housewife\u201d image. \u00a0Is she a feminist? \u00a0Can a housewife be<\/em> a feminist?<\/p>\n Oh, and what\u2019s more, with three boys, I\u2019m much more concerned about making sure they find success in life than worrying about whether girls are discouraged from seeking out STEM careers, for instance.<\/p>\n So I\u2019m not sure that I\u2019d qualify as a \u201cfeminist\u201d in that sense, either.<\/p>\n So there you have it. \u00a0You probably thought I was going to come up with, as a twist, a way in which I am a feminist after all, but, in the immortal words of Jeff Probst, \u201cI got nothin\u2019 for ya\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Images: \u00a01) https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ATrump-WomensMarch_2017-top-1510075_(32409710246).jpg; By Mark Dixon from Pittsburgh, PA (Trump-WomensMarch_2017-top-1510075) [CC BY 2.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n 2) https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AHOUSEWIFE_IN_THE_KITCHEN_OF_HER_MOBILE_HOME_IN_ONE_OF_THE_TRAILER_PARKS._THE_TWO_PARKS_WERE_CREATED_IN_RESPONSE_TO\u2026_-_NARA_-_558298.jpg; By Villalobos, Horacio, Photographer (NARA record: 8464479) (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is a genre of posts that\u2019s reappearing again (e.g., Rebecca Hamilton at Public Catholic\u00a0and Rebecca Bratten Weiss at Suspended in Her Jar), perhaps as a result of discussions around the \u201cwomen\u2019s march,\u201d so here\u2019s my take: You can\u2019t just proclaim that you are (or aren\u2019t) a feminist without the word meaning something in particular. 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