Whenever I tell someone I'm a feminist, they always ask the same question.
"Are you a lesbian?"
Even after I answer no, lesbianism is still brought up in discussions about feminism.
This shows me how many misunderstand feminism. It's true that lesbian issues are closely tied to feminist issues, and it's logical that they should be.
Yet feminism isn't just about lesbian rights and never has been. Feminism is not something to be frightened of. It's not something to be deflected with homophobic sentiment. It's simply a political doctrine that asks that women receive the same rights as men.
That doesn't sound so bad, does it?
Since the feminist movement in the 1970's, feelings about feminism have been leaning more to bad than to good. Today, the word "feminist" is more of an insult than an explanation of a political standpoint.
Many females live a feminist life without acknowledging feminism. They graduate from college with a degree in a traditionally male field, like engineering.
They get married, choosing to take their husband's name or keep their own. They ask their husbands to share in housekeeping duties. They have children and put them in daycare. Thanks to the work of feminists before us, these are no longer revolutionary acts.
All females, even the ones that are anti-feminist, enjoy the privileges that the feminist movement provided them. Men often enjoy these things as well.
One privilege is choice. No, I'm not talking abortion. I mean that a woman can choose how she wants to live her life. No longer are marriage, domesticity and procreation the recommended formula for women to follow.
Another privilege of feminism is the abundance of female sports. Women in college now enjoy sports that we weren't allowed to play 40 years ago.
If you use birth control, its availability is partly due to feminists. In 1962, Griswold v. Connecticut granted birth control use to married couples. Ten years later, the right was extended to single people.
Recently, many people celebrated the 29th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion. To feminists, this was a major victory in the fight for reproductive rights.
Out of this never-ending debate, much of the anti-feminist sentiment in America has been wrought. Anti-feminists are often vocal and colorful and as a result receive significant media coverage.
At some point, their words enter the mainstream.
Case in point: the ultra-conservative and largely disliked radio commentator Rush Limbaugh coined the term "femi-Nazi." The word caught on, but I bet most people who use it don't know who it came from.
Anti-feminists have managed to paint feminists as shrews who will get down a man's back about the most ridiculous things. We can't take a joke. We can't let a guy be nice and open the door.
Just as not all people are alike, neither are all feminists. Some feminists are anti-abortion. Some feminists want to take our husband's name. Some feminists think football is an interesting game.
We aren't necessarily lesbians, and we aren't necessarily shrews. The sooner everyone understands this, the better. Women can stop saying, "I'm not a feminist, but ..." and then expound for five minutes on feminist issues they support.
You don't have to agree with every issue feminists identify with. But remember that all any feminist wants are for women to have the same rights and privileges as men.
And that's really not so bad, is it?
Kym Lesvesque is a journalism sophomore. Reach her at kymberly.levesque@asu.edu.
