• Thu, Aug 11 2011

Is ‘Equalism’ The New ‘Feminism?’

It’s really frustrating to me that in the year 2011, there are still so many smart, accomplished, modern women who wouldn’t dare label themselves a feminist. It makes no sense. To me, a feminist is someone who believes in equal rights between men and women – plain and simple. Can you really be a modern woman without identifying as feminist?

Apparently so. Beyoncé and Lady Gaga are just two of countless female celebrities who have dissed the F word in a very public way. Gaga has proudly proclaimed, “I am not a feminist. I love men.” (Gee, thanks for comin’ out.) And in this month’s Harper’s Bazaar UK, the Queen B herself replies when asked if she’s a feminist, “I don’t really feel that it’s necessary to define it. It’s just something that’s kind of natural for me, and I feel like…you know…it’s, like, what I live for. I need to find a catchy new word for ‘feminism’, right? Like ‘bootylicious’…”

The clever folks over at Jezebel have asked readers to come up with a new word for feminism and they’ve just posted a partial list of suggestions (as you can see, many of them are highly amusing):

Misogylypse
Non-Cookers
Flesh-Hungry Young Slutism
Lieutenant Ripleyism
Legitabitch
Reallyism (as in “really? In 2011 that’s acceptable behavior or thought to have about women? really?”)
Equality for everyone regardless of their genitals
Equaligasm (an adherent of equaligasm would be an equaligasmitist)
Vagarchy
She-quality
FYATPHPHYRIO? (Pronounced Fee-Aht-Fee-Ree-Oh): Fuck You And The Privileged Heterosexist Patriarchal Horse You Rode In On
GEM (Gender Equality Movement)
eGALitarian
Clitanetics
Decency (feminists are “decentists.”)
Vaginist
Femalicious
Vagenius
Feminis-awesome
Gendequality
Equalia
Genégalitism
Equalettes
Gynocrat
Vagitarian
Uteritarian
Antiobjectificationist
Diva-is-a-female-version-of-a-hustla-ism
Gynequity

The winner? “Equalism.” I must admit, I like it, I like it a lot. But I still think that feminism works even better. It’s an oldie but a goodie. I’ll certainly be using the term when explaining equality between the sexes to my own two boys.

(Photo: Hemera)

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  • Somnilee

    I actually consider myself an “equalist” because there are (surprisingly to some people) many areas where I consider the rights for men to be lower than rights for women. Case in point: paternity leave.
    To me, calling myself purely a “feminist” would seem wrong as it implies that you only care about solving discrepancies where men usually have the advantage (wages, promotion, “everything”) whereas I truly believe in levelling the playing field for everyone.

    • Jen

      But Feminism IS about equal rights for the genders. Though feminists have often (and for obvious reasons) been aligned with Women’s Rights movements (suffrage, birth control and abortion access, equal pay, etc) they are also at the forefront of the movement for gender equality in general. Being a feminist already means supporting equal rights for the sexes.

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  • meteor_echo

    This is why I call myself a “feminist-egalitarian”.

  • Go Equalism!

    Go Equalism! This emerging movement makes sense for many, many reasons. Feminism is worthy but now has lost its impact among younger women today and is facing a backlash. It has is some part become hijacked by divisive radicals and has become associated with women-only issues perhaps in part due to the issue of the etymology. Equalism is better because it’s meaning is clear and it encompasses all struggles, including sex, race, sexuality, gender and class issues. It is a true people’s movement where we all champion equal worth and unity