What I've grasped so far:
1. Feminist literary criticism involves analyzing, interpreting, and summarizing other words (that have feminist inclination or not). I will attempt to apply my deconstructions to modern issues and emotions.
2. A. "Feminism" is a term that holds different meaning for millions of people. The movement never held a specific definition so as not to box notions in. Separate and drastically dissimilar definitions have worked (and do work) against the feminist cause -- pretty hard to fight for something when others don't (but think they do) know that you're fighting for.
B. For the sake of clarity, I will provide my own broad definition of feminism as a foundation for future comparisons/arguments. So.
Feminism /ˈfem-ə-ˌniz-əm/: n. A school of thought which advocates for equality between all sexes. The founding idea stands thus: so long as women do not have control over issues that involve them (in other words, if men continue to solely hold power with regards to female issues, society will never attain equality. Understandably, with the gendered title "FEM-inism," it may appear to be an ideology that only serves women, but this definition attributes feminism with humanist, egalitarian goals, not matriarchal ones. This school of thought holds a persuasion toward female issues and excludes the idea that feminism is only for women or only serves to boost female standing. [Ahem. Feminists are not lesbian manhaters.]
C. Even the above supposed-to-be-simple definition took about ten minutes to tweak and turned out far more complicated than I had hoped. And, granted, all sorts of other ideologies that currently hold global discrepancies within their factions, are intertwined with said definition of feminism (e.g. social class, race) and make goal achievement even more difficult due to prejudice and privilege imbalance.
3. The latter understanding mirrors Rosemarie Tong's realization "that feminist thought resists categorization into tidy" compartments with simple definitions (1).
4. For perspective re: 2. A., I polled my Facebook friends within a status update: "What does the word 'feminism' mean to you and do you consider yourself a feminist?"
I received five responses. Four from females.
A. College-aged female: 
"Feminism= women being regarded as equal to men. This is not necessarily achieved by women becoming more like men by rejecting everything remotely associated with femininity. I see that view being called feminism a lot, but I don't agree because to me, that says that femininity= undesirable, weakness, and the ONLY path to equality is trying to be as masculine (i.e., strong and capable) as you can. I'm a baby name nerd, and I see lots of moms name their little girls things like Bryce, Tyler, Riley, etc. because it's a "strong" name. What about names like Sophia, Julia, Anastasia- are they weak just because they are traditional girl's names? Really? Think about what you're saying here.
Feminism to me is having the CHOICE to be as masculine or feminine as you want to be, and still have your rights, opinions, and needs taken as seriously as men's are. Oh yeah, and I would consider myself a feminist."
Feminism to me is having the CHOICE to be as masculine or feminine as you want to be, and still have your rights, opinions, and needs taken as seriously as men's are. Oh yeah, and I would consider myself a feminist."
B. Grandmother:
"How about independent gender thinking and doing what is best for one's self. In the end, it makes it easier for everyone else. Years of experience."
C. College-aged female:
"Feminism = The examination of gender bias in society and the drive to eradicate anti-female memes. However, this practice sometimes goes to the extreme of promoting anti-male memes. Because of the danger of that extreme, I do not consider myself a feminist." [I must note here that this person was turned off to the ideology by possibility and not reality (what many stereotypes are built upon) which boils my blood a bit.]
D. College-aged female:
"Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, 'She doesn't have what it takes.' They will say, 'Women don't have what it takes.' ~ Clare Boothe Luce
"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people too."
Feminism to me is quality between sexes. It is by no means anti-men. But I don't agree with the way media represents women much of the time. I don't like how the average women still makes less money because she has a vagina. I feel that chivalry a lot of the time should be replaced with equality much of the time. I believe women should have as many choices in life as men and they should not be held back because of body parts. I think that if women WANT to stay home and be a mother and clean and that's it and they made that choice then great. But that should not be what is expected of them in society.
Yes. I am a feminist. :]
Feminism to me is quality between sexes. It is by no means anti-men. But I don't agree with the way media represents women much of the time. I don't like how the average women still makes less money because she has a vagina. I feel that chivalry a lot of the time should be replaced with equality much of the time. I believe women should have as many choices in life as men and they should not be held back because of body parts. I think that if women WANT to stay home and be a mother and clean and that's it and they made that choice then great. But that should not be what is expected of them in society.
Yes. I am a feminist. :]
E. Father of six:
"I, myself have never been a feminist. And some women make more money specifically BECAUSE they have a hoo-hoo....especially here in Nevada." [Here, I will note that the word 'some' was used in this statement and no mention of pay equity was made. Only that men or women make more or less than one another. Why the competition?]
5. Due to text overload, I will conclude my formal foundational post with a lovely picture.
