"Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression... I liked this definition because it did not imply that men were the enemy."
Here, here! Something that's always driven me nuts about a girl I went to high school with was her insistence on dropping the f-bomb at any given opportunity and her sheer lack of understanding on what in the world she was talking about. She once told me that I was not a feminist because I wore make-up and didn't hate men. No, I did not punch her in the nose, but yes, I did want to.
I prefer the bell hooks definition of feminism above all others because it is simple and does not have the word "woman" in it anywhere. Woman are not necessarily the good guys, just as men are not the enemy. I don't know why this is so hard for so many people to understand. Equal opportunity, the breakdown of gender and sexual stereotypes and hierarchies, of oppressive institutions and privilege power structures - that's what we want, right?
"Concurrently, there can be no such thing as 'power feminism' if the vision of power evoked is power gained through the exploitation and oppression of others."
"Concurrently, there can be no such thing as 'power feminism' if the vision of power evoked is power gained through the exploitation and oppression of others."
I agree that bell hooks' definition is the most inclusive. One thing I've learned is that there is no feminism, but rather, many feminisms. I like that you note that women are not necessarily good and men aren't necessarily bad. If you see your high school classmate again, perhaps you can talk to her about binaries? :)
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