Why I don’t say I’m a feminist.

I was thinking today, that I never describe myself as a feminist, although I’ve generally agreed with the vast majority of feminist theory I’ve read.

Part of this is a discomfort with labelling myself as feminist - I’m never 100% sure I have a right (as a male) to declare my allegiance to a view that is at least partially based on not examining everything through the male gaze.

But beyond that, I think the bigger issue is this: I’m a big believer in equality, to the point where my stance on the issue of cultural relativism is trumped by my equality views. This matters because, unless you’re a feminist to some extent, you can’t really accept equality. That is, without the admission that the world can’t be understood through, and explained by, the filter of one gendered viewpoint, you can’t honestly pursue equality.

I never say I’m a feminist because it’s a pretty bare minimum thing. It’s not far from saying ‘I believe in universal gender equality’. Which, I hope, shouldn’t need to be said by enlightened people. Much like clarifying that you aren’t racist, it only comes up immediately before or after doing or saying something that makes it clear you have a bias.

So yeah, it makes me a little sad when I see a huge response, in either direction, to a random male calling himself feminist. This shouldn’t be a big deal. It should be a bare minimum thing, like bathing, or being nice to children, or not discriminating based on religion, sexual orientation or ancestry.

So sure, if it needs to be clarified, I’m a feminist, like most genuine good dudes I know. But we’ll never call ourselves that, really: because we don’t list any other of the bare minimums we meet. It feels to much like pointing out one of the myriad ways we happen not to suck.

And I’m way more comfortable discussing my flaws.