I managed to get Kate to squeeze in a breakfast for me this morning as she is in town on some Petro Canada business (who recently launched a new blog) and for the CMA digital marketing conference.
We were talking about a recent experience of mine when a friend, say in a generation behind me, proudly told me how she wasn’t a feminist and when I looked at her funny - she with wide eyes open said "you're not a feminist are you?"
Uh, yeah...it by feminist we mean equal pay and equal opportunity for women.
Of course the problem is the fact that the term has somehow gotten go opted to mean man hater. (oh where to put the blame on that one, let me count the ways).
This is a bit concerning because it presupposes that things are equal when in fact, they still aren't.
Kate and I think that we need to re-brand feminism. And in a way that it can't be turned into something dark and ominous. So we'll need a new name. We need to get rid of hard consonant like IST and replace them with a word that has more "o"s in it. Something bubblier and maybe more web 2.0ey?
Suggestions anyone?
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
Feminism Needs A New Name: We're Thinking Something Web 2.0ey
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4 comments:
this made me smile; from "on beauty" by Zadie Smith: (the character is reading a note on her mother's kitchen board) "I myself have never been able to figure out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat."
Web 2.0 eh? Umm... Vaginr?
firstly CV, that is a wicked quote.
and Nav, I'll put that on the consideration set...but something tells me it might not make the cut! ;-)
My daughter and I had this very same discussion a couple months ago. Feminist, indeed, no longer works -- it has baggage. I think I tossed out some lame term like 'human advocate', but that didn't fly with her :-) Can't imagine why :-)
For my part: I just want everyone to be friends, man and woman alike.
Mark
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