Responses #4 and #5

1. Yes. I believe in equal rights and opportunities for all human beings. 

2. I think it can be a deterrent if the feminist movement is portrayed as extreme or inflexible.

3. The movement must be supportive of all types of opportunities for women, including the opportunity to stay at home with young children.  Feminist values should be supportive of women having many choices.

4. Hopefully, the blogs will be open-minded and educational for all.

5. Supporting young, independent females who do not feel like they have to be involved with a “significant other” to be valued by their peers.

1. Yes I do. I think choosing to adopt the label positions me as someone who’s interested in working toward equality for the genders. Feminism is the political movement that works for fair and equitable treatment for people of all genders.

2. The biggest deterrent has been the media’s treatment of the feminist movement. For example, Rush Limbaugh coined the term “feminazi” and is proud of that. Conservative radio and TV has slanted the political movement in certain ways. This is always done via the branches; there are extreme branches of the feminist movement as there are with any movement. I don’t think the movement is represented well via media. I know some people don’t like the term because it has been co-opted.

3. Make toys gender neutral. Gendered socialization of children is insane. People critique the fact that I’m not doing more to gender-please my son. People think it’s wrong if I let him play with a doll.

4. I follow several feminist blogs. One concern I have is that they’re not very mainstream and not widely read out of feminist circles, which is typical. People are misinformed but it’s not their fault. Just because CNN doesn’t have feminist issues as their main headline doesn’t mean they’re not being discussed. Terming blogs as “feminist” blogs identifies them in a way that they probably won’t maybe ever be mainstream.

5. Being misunderstood /narrowly understood. The breadth of the feminist movement isn’t clear. We need to take our voices into the mainstream, like Eve Ensler and Jessica Valenti have attempted by writing for The New York Times or The Huffington Post.