I am Not a Feminist
And I am proud not to be one.
I am female. I am also a student, researcher, writer, daughter, wife… I am many things, but not a feminist. I am an individualist. I am me.
Why I Reject to Be a Feminist
I don't consider myself a 'feminist' for many reasons, but mainly because I believe in philosophy rather than ideology. I believe in Critical theory, whose primary goal is to unmask ideology falsely by contrasting theory with real social facts. Critical theorists argue that knowledge is shaped by human interests of different kinds and that we can't stand “objectively” independent from these interests.
This is the reason why I don't believe in any ideology, and specifically 'ism' ideologies, ideological beliefs make us irrational. As David Joravsky puts it: "When we call a belief ideological, we are saying at least three things about it: although it is unverified or unverifiable, it is accepted as verified by a particular group because it performs social functions for that group"; in other words, holders of beliefs do not need to have had them ‘proved’ by some rational, scientific form of testing. To the believers, they are the truth despite everything.
As a rational, independent woman I utterly reject an ideology constraining my worldview. And honestly, I find feminism to have so many irrational aspects.
The Label 'Feminism'
Why ‘feminism’? Isn’t the main aim of this movement is gender equality? A professor at the University of Northern Colorado, Dr. Cairo suggests: the word ‘feminism’ subscribes to a very strict male or female gender binary. This dichotomization forces us to see the dissimilarities rather than similarities between men and women.
In fact, according to Jürgen Habermas's theory of communicative action: It is via language (vocabulary, word choice, colloquialisms) that we either spread the right message or the wrong one. Habermas suggests that wrong word choice can lead to dangerous misperceptions.
For example, when they say on the news: "Muslim terrorists". The language used is emphasizing the religion of these people rather than the brutal action per se. Think about it, do we ever hear the term "White terrorists" or "Christian terrorists"? Whenever terrorists have an identity different than Muslims, then the word chosen is just "terrorists", or more likely “criminals”.
The first step towards social equality is bias-free language. It is time we stopped making unnecessary distinctions; distinctions like man/woman, Muslim/Christian, are sometimes completely irrelevant in specific contexts.
Feminism Has Gone Wrong
In the beginning, feminism was such a revolutionary movement. It was about equal legal and social rights, it focused on very important issues such as domestic violence, maternal leave, equal pay, fair treatment, and education. But then, feminism got carried away with victimology, discrimination against men, and a series of absurd ideas that are completely anti-intellectual; things like the feminist armpit revolution, the anti-bra movement, and slut walks.
How can any of this contribute to the empowerment of women? How can not shaving and going braless improve social equality? Such unconstructive activities can only contribute to the objectification of women, or worse, it conveys the idea that we have a problem with being women; social equality is not about being the same as men, it is about being equal to men.
The Illusion that Equality Means Sameness
Christina Hoff Sommers, an American author known for her controversial writings on feminism in modern culture states that: “I think the fallacy is to think that women’s liberation meant that men and women would become interchangeable. That has not happened, and most men and women wouldn’t want it to happen.”
She adds: “A fair and just society offers equality of opportunity to all. But it can not promise, and should not try to enforce sameness."
She suggests that women want their rights, but they don’t want to be exactly like men, adding that their brains are not “interchangeable” and that men and women have different preferences and propensities.
And it is true, we cannot deny science.
Gender is Not a Social Construct
Professor Lewis Wolpert, a renowned developmental biologist, examines the biological differences between men and women as distinct from social factors. Physically speaking, scientific evidence shows that males and females differ in the structure of the brain. For instance, the INAH-3, a sexually dimorphic nucleus of humans — that really determines maleness, is, in fact, two and a half times larger in men; furthermore, females have less grey matter and more white matter in comparison to men.
Genetically speaking, Wolpert talks about toddlers, he claims that girls as young as 12 months make more eye contact and behave more sympathetically to the distress of others while boys tend to be more physical; moreover, boys and girls display a difference in toy preferences. Boys generally like mechanical objects while girls like dolls.
He adds if the girl's mother has CAH (a genetic disorder), that is in the womb this child was more exposed to testosterone; then the girl shows more male-typical play. This shows how biology can have a major effect on people's behavior, and it has nothing to do with social behavior.
Radicalism and Irrationality
Here is the thing about Ism-ideologies, they eventually become radical and blinding; no wonder why women stirred away from the main purpose, that is social equality, and started to question the unquestionable.
“The biggest issue in the way we see modern feminism is that we often conflate it with the feminist movement from the ’60s. The term is a little outdated and often associated with bra burning and man-hate. The word itself is also innately biased. Maybe we can coin a new term — equalism?”
Radical feminists, like Shulamith Firestone, describe pregnancy as "barbaric" claiming that the gift of child carrying is the source of female oppression. Others like Marlene Dixon, state: "The institution of marriage is the chief vehicle for the perpetuation of the oppression of women; it is through the role of wife that the subjugation of women is maintained”.
Love and marriage is a privilege, and pregnancy is the greatest of privileges. There is nothing complicated about equality, so let's not confuse this sacred principle with extremist ideas.
