I’m a proud feminist. I could talk about feminism all day any day, and I love connecting with other feminists. But here’s the thing: I don’t agree with all other feminists. Take one, for example: Beyoncé.
Whaaaaaat? Isn’t Queen Bey the face of feminism? After all, she stood in front of a giant light-up FEMINISM sign that one time.
Sure, she’s got great ideas about feminism. But I don’t agree with everything she does. And that’s okay.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean we all agree. We might have the same end goal, we might not. We might agree on the means of getting to gender equality, we might not.
Beyoncé, for example, says she’s a feminist, but re-records her song “Crazy In Love” for the movie 50 Shades of Grey and sings along with her husband when he references physical abuse toward Tina Turner.
However, she’s also played a big role in bringing feminism back into the mainstream, which I respect. And I relate to the fact that she was hesitant to call herself a feminism for a while.
So yeah, I disagree with Beyoncé on some of her views of feminism. But I also respect her not only as a feminist, but also as a person.
Because the end of the day, “feminist” is still just a label.
So I disagree with some feminists. That doesn’t make me any less of a feminist, and it doesn’t make them any less of feminists. In fact, I’d say that the disagreement (and the understanding of why we disagree) makes us stronger feminists.
It would be one thing to understand the ideals of feminism and take a stance on an issue based on those beliefs. It’s an entirely different thing to think “Emma Watson is a feminist. I’m going to believe everything she does about every feminist issue.”
That doesn’t help you, and it doesn’t help feminism.
Go ahead and disagree with Beyoncé or Emma Watson if you feel the need to! (Yeah, I said it.) But do it because you have a different understanding of something than she does. Don’t do it for the sake of disagreeing with her.
It’s perfectly normal to be a feminist who disagrees with other feminists. In fact, I encourage it. Educate yourself on gender equality and then form your own beliefs on different issues. Don’t change them simply because they differ with someone else’s. (Unless, of course, you realize they have a better point than you do.)
Have you ever caught yourself disagreeing with other feminists? Have you ever disagreed with me? I’m curious! Let me know in the comments!
“Educate yourself on gender equality and then form your own beliefs on different issues.” If we all only spent a little more time on the education side of things, we would be in a better spot!
I totally agree!
I disagree with so many feminists that often times I wonder if maybe I’m not a feminist after all.
It’s all up to you if you consider yourself a feminist! 🙂
I’m a feminist from umm, way back when, and appreciate all the work the movement (me included) did for our gender. Keep it going ladies. You can disagree with others but stand true to your beliefs. To me, a feminist is one who actually works to make changes. I should share my “burn my bra” story with you one day!
Please do! I would love to hear it! 🙂
I agree with you. I, personally, don’t really like Beyonce or a lot of the things she does and says, but it doesn’t mean I don’t respect some of the things she’s done. There are so many parts to each person and woman. You can’t agree with everything one person does…unless it’s yourself, and even then, I look back and change my mind.
Exactly! Glad we’re on the same page, Shann 🙂
As a stay at home mom I never considered myself a feminist but I’ve found a movement called maternal feminism that fights for the rights of women all over the world there is so much work to be done there is always something to agree on and help others with
That’s so awesome! I’ll have to look into it.
There are some things I agree with and some that I don’t. I don’t think disagreeing with someone means you can’t respect them. This is a good post, but ‘feminist’ isn’t really a label I would attribute to myself, but I don’t ‘label’ myself in general.
Thanks, Trish! 🙂