Feminism is a diverse, heterogeneous movement in terms of membership, ideology, tactics and strategy. According to the author, Kathryn Mitrow, feminism is about “identity and fluidity … and gender equity.” So is feminism for everybody? Or more to the point, should it be for everybody? Or does this idea of a super-inclusive feminism simply lead to the disarming of the movement at the expense of actual, concrete gains for women?Ĭertainly, no one particular political ideology or strategy can lay an exclusive claim to the word feminist. This slogan, inspired by bell hooks’ book of the same name, is widely used to envision a feminist movement that is open to all people and that, in theory, recognizes the real diversity among feminists and among women more generally.īut the closer one looks at how this idea is actually being used, the more one starts to wonder: is feminism being stripped of its challenging and confrontational aspects in favour of a new, de-politicized feminist identity that is incapable of addressing ongoing inequalities?Īt the University of Western Ontario, for instance, a recent essay in The F Word, a zine put out by the Women’s Issues Network (WIN) collective, celebrated feminism as being “for everybody,” including the author, a member of Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party. Feminism is for everybody, the mantra goes.
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