Different Kinds of Feminisms
When people think of “feminism”, they think of a specific media-generated image that usually involves “unseemly” body hair, bra burning, child- and man-hating, angry, masculine women, lesbians, and (weirdly) by turns promiscuous and prudes, depending on which end of the popular culture spectrum you’re coming from.
Thankfully, this feminism does not exist.
Many of these stereotypes are exaggerations (child- and man-hating), while others are specific to a certain subdivision of feminism (not shaving or wearing makeup). Some were simply made up to sell papers. (There was never any bra burning. Bras are expensive, hello. This was an exaggeration of an event where many feminists, in protesting a Miss America pageant in the ’60s, threw their bras into a trash can…unlit.) While a few have some basis in fact, in general, the popular perception of feminism is completely misconstrued.
Trying to define feminism in any strict way is similar to trying to define Christianity in any strict way. There is hardly anything on which there is not SOME form of disagreement. And while the movement as a whole does have commonalities, it’s important to understand the different particular strands which a given feminist can belong to.
Again, it’s like Christianity: do you know the difference between Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Latter Day Saints, and the Presbyterians? Some do, but odds are you don’t. Even when these denominations can agree on certain broad tenets, many believe that the others are STILL going to hell, for whatever doctrinal reason. It’s very important to notice the differences between the different types.
The following post was adapted from notes from my Sex, Power, and Politics Women’s Studies class.
Keep in mind that some of these types of feminism can and do overlap, and that individual women can subscribe to more than one of these feminisms.
Let’s begin, then:
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