Welcome to Feminism 101. Starting from scratch is hard and there’s no shame in learning something new. I know first hand that this stuff can get confusing and overwhelming quickly. I made this list of some feminist jargon and concepts to be used as a starting point and a reference sheet for my future posts. This post will update with new definitions as a I come across new terms so be sure to bookmark this post.
Choice Feminism
Linda Hirshman created the term in her 2006 book “Get to Work: . . . And Get a Life, Before It’s Too Late” but the term didn’t become popular until post 2010. Choice feminism is predicated on the idea that all choices women make are inherently feminist or empowering even when they align with patriarchal standards. Under this veil of feminism a woman who is childless, full of body hair, and never wears makeup is equally as feminist as the stay at home mom who does all the cooking, cleaning, and childcare, assuming that both of these women made the choice to live their lives in their respective ways. This seems appealing at first especially since many waves of feminism in America were women begging to make choices such as to vote, to get a credit card, to get divorced or not married at all, etc. However Choice Feminism has been heavily criticized due to its lack of acknowledging the privilege behind having choice. Where white women are praised for not shaving women of color are shamed and berated for their uncleanliness. Another criticism of Choice Feminism comes from the concept of women choosing to transform themselves in a way that conveniently aligns with patricarial beauty standards. For example, if a woman’s boyfriend breaks up with her because she’s “let herself go” and thusly the woman starts going to the gym, loses 50 pounds, does her hair and makeup every day, has she gotten her revenge to show her ex what he’s missing or has she proved him right by conforming to what a woman “should” look like?
Intersectional Feminism
Intersectional Feminism separates itself from White Feminism by acknowledging that women of different colors, ages, nationalities, religions, sexualities, etc, all have different experiences within the patriarchy. One example is the wage gap. While white women make approximately $0.83 per a white man’s dollar a black woman makes approximately $0.64 and hispanic women make approximately $0.57.
White Feminism
White Feminism is the unfair but unfortunately common cycle of white women co opting a movement, saying, concept, or idea, and either taking credit for it or redesigning it to focus on the struggles of white women effectively erasing the struggles of women of color. Examples include activist Tarana Burke getting no credit for starting the #MeToo movement, or popular suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony were appalled by the fact that black men were allowed to vote before white women and thusly only fought for white suffrage.
-
- Read more about White Feminism Here!
Girlboss Feminism
Sophia Amoruso coined the term in her 2014 memoir to describe a woman’s ability to “swim upstream” and partake in hustle culture. Girlbosses use capitalism as grounds for gender equality. After her memoir Amoruso soon faced many controversies at her business such as discriminating against pregnant women in the workplace which is not very girlboss tbh. Girlboss Feminism can also be used as a synonym for Choice Feminism but there are notable differences.
-
- Read more about Girlboss Feminism Here!
TERFs and SWERFs
TERF stands from Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist. SWERF stands for Sex Work Exclusionary Radical Feminist. These “feminists” (sarcasm quotes) believe that Transgender women are not women and therefore should not not be included in feminist ideology and that Sex Work is anti-feminist and Sex Workers should also be left out from feminist ideals. TERFs and SWERFs and losers, don’t be like them.
One thought on “Feminism For Dummies”
Comments are closed.