I would like to identify as a feminist

[Redbeard The Pink]

The word "feminism" has been tainted by the extremists in the movement, so I no longer feel comfortable calling myself one in case someone misconstrues my meaning. I prefer the term "egalitarian", which basically means someone who believes all people are equal and deserve equal rights, regardless of any differences.

This is pretty much exactly where I am. From the outside, "feminism" looks a lot like a religion. It's splintered into hundreds of schisms (at least), and many of those schisms are ear-marked by vague outrage, rampant sensationalism, faulty claims, crap logic, and an avid desire to censor/punish anyone with an opposing viewpoint while insisting their own views are sacred and unassailable.


I've also noticed this weird dichotomy where they want women to have the agency and freedom to dress and act in absolutely any way they please (sure, fine, it's 2015, they pretty much have that already), but the moment any man expresses enjoyment or encouragement toward virtually any aspect of a woman's appearance (especially her body or mode of dress), they immediately flip the switch to Puritan mode, calling it "exploitation" and wanting to hide women's bodies away from all these nasty men who keep eye-raping them.


Now, I'm not talking about cat-calling here. Cat-calling is disgusting and men who do it should feel ashamed of themselves. I'm talking about situations like porn and modeling, where adult, responsible women decide to put their bodies on display of their own free will and somebody jumps in with "that woman is being exploited and would only allow it if she had no other choice and/or has been brainwashed by the Patriarchy."


I realize not all feminists are like that, but the most vocal ones often are, which is another problem they have in common with religion. The average feminist probably isn't any more radical or hateful than the average Christian, but the average feminist/Christian is not as vocal as the extreme ones, so they don't contribute as much to the public image of the group.


When it comes to matters of human equality, I usually refer to myself as an egalitarian and/or a secular humanist. I think all humans should have the same rights regardless of who they are, pretty much. The only exceptions would be really harmful/crazy people who don't give society any option but to remove some of their freedoms to keep everyone else safe. The word "feminism," however, has become too synonymous with too many negatives, and it doesn't seem to me that this is entirely without reason.