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RE: Cait's Corner: "I'm a Conservative Feminist; We Do Exist," Ball State Daily News, Feb. 1.
Dear Caitlen,
I read with interest your column, “I'm a Conservative Feminist; We Do Exist.” Since there are still a lot of knuckle-dragging misogynist trolls who will take aim at anyone who claims a feminist identity, I think you were brave to write your column.
I found myself thinking about your letter as I fell asleep last night and again as I woke up this morning. I, too, consider myself a feminist and know that it is difficult to articulate a feminist identity because of the stereotypes and baggage that comes with the term. Still, there was something that doesn’t sit right with me about what you’ve written.
There’s a saying that I’ve often seen on bumper stickers and T-shirts that says “feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” Sure, I get the idea, but for me, feminism is not just a belief in personhood or equality; it is a belief upon which one is willing to act. Moreover, feminism for me is a willingness to stay alert to how issues of gender intersect with other issues and identities (Kimberlé Crenshaw calls this intersectional theory).
Take guns, for instance. You note that you “strongly believe in the Second Amendment.” Let’s just take one fact from the very complex issue: Do you know that someone with a history of intimate partner violence is five times more likely to kill a partner if there is a firearm in the house and that perpetrators of intimate partner violence are overwhelmingly male? (1)
So, when you say your feminism is “supporting other women,” what does that mean? How would a woman orient herself in support of other women given this fact? Might she need to think about how being against all gun control legislation puts women in danger? Might she want to question why most gun violence is committed by men and why white men especially are the most likely to commit mass murder? (2)
Yeah, I think she does.
I also think a feminist needs to think about how immigration, unchecked police violence on people of color, health care, minimum wage, parental leave, education, for-profit prisons, marriage equality, “bathroom” laws, environmental issues and so many other issues of our time are gendered and do indeed affect women. And then, I think a feminist must think about what it means to support women on these issues and then to do it.
I see in your letter that you are happy to have the rewards of the feminists who have come before you — the ability to vote, go to college, choose a career and “make your own choices.” But I see also your distaste for the “extremely tiresome” work that it takes to gain and secure those rights.
As a Christian, I’m sure you can discern a difference between people who call themselves Christian and those who practice it. What if you applied this to feminism? I know, I know — feminism is not a religion. I’m not saying it is. But I am suggesting that there is a difference between a label and the labor of feminism.
I’d be happy to chat with you more about this.
Dr. Jackie Grutsch McKinney
Professor of English, Ball State University
jrmckinney@bsu.edu
- (1)J.C. Campbell, S.W. Webster, J.Koziol-McLain, et al., Risk factors for femicide within physically abuse intimate relationships: results from a multi-state case control study, 93 Amer. J. of Public Health 1089-97 (2003).
- (2)http://theweek.com/articles/581371/men-mass-murder-what-gender-tells-about-americas-epidemic-gun-violence
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