Before feminism was cool it was hairy The site Jezebel is worried about feminism becoming fashionable, citing 2013 as the year young female celebrities were falling over themselves to identify as feminist. Model Charlotte Free fretted feministly on her Tumblr: "feminism is not an accessory or a phase u can grow out of dont get me wrong, im way stoked that more people are admitting to be, or becoming feminists but i wish it didnt take it being 'trendy' to get where we are now. [sic]" Feminism might not be an accessory but it is cool now and we want you to know that we were feminist before feminism was cool. Now we have had to come up with a new movement to identify with, or at least new names for feminism...
1. Didn't Joss Whedon sort this last year? I'm not sure I really understand Jezebel's worries. Fashionable is a synonym for popular, which is a good thing as far as I can tell. I can't help but get the image of the Jezebel writers talking about how they were burning bras before it was cool out of my head. Gareth
2. Can we just ditch all the labels and pursue equality? Everything else is just window-dressing, is it not? F1Kate
3. My friend once met Siouxsie from Siouxsie and the Banshees on the bus and she said to him, "We didn't call it Punk we called it High Energy!" This sounded a lot more exciting and less like puke so maybe feminism has to sound less 'ismy' and more lively! I think we should call it Lady Wave - not only does it like womanhood storming towards the future, as Cher Horowitz would say while "surfing the crimson wave" it sounds both terrifying and exhilarating. Just like life and any ideologies should do! Squeamish Nicola
4. Is 'equality' really such a difficult concept? Squeamish Louise
5. The way a lot of feminists with a platform discuss feminism the idea of coming up with a new word with the values of intersectional feminism is appealing. But it amuses me to see a site worrying itself about feminism falling into lowest common denominator territory - 'equal rights for everybody? And I suppose if the feminists jumped off a cliff you'd do it too, just to be equal'. So let's leave it as feminism and just make sure the accurate message is spread. Squeamish Kate
2. Can we just ditch all the labels and pursue equality? Everything else is just window-dressing, is it not? F1Kate
3. My friend once met Siouxsie from Siouxsie and the Banshees on the bus and she said to him, "We didn't call it Punk we called it High Energy!" This sounded a lot more exciting and less like puke so maybe feminism has to sound less 'ismy' and more lively! I think we should call it Lady Wave - not only does it like womanhood storming towards the future, as Cher Horowitz would say while "surfing the crimson wave" it sounds both terrifying and exhilarating. Just like life and any ideologies should do! Squeamish Nicola
4. Is 'equality' really such a difficult concept? Squeamish Louise
5. The way a lot of feminists with a platform discuss feminism the idea of coming up with a new word with the values of intersectional feminism is appealing. But it amuses me to see a site worrying itself about feminism falling into lowest common denominator territory - 'equal rights for everybody? And I suppose if the feminists jumped off a cliff you'd do it too, just to be equal'. So let's leave it as feminism and just make sure the accurate message is spread. Squeamish Kate
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