The Definition of Feminism is Still a Thing Apparently

In the past few days, the definition of feminism and the connotations associated with the word have once again become a popular topic.

Let’s start with a thought exercise: define feminism. Just think about how you’d explain it to someone who has never heard the term before, and possibly just emerged from a cave or some other place where they’ve missed the past several decades. Okay, now hold that definition in your mind and read the following.

First up, Merriam-Webster continues to be one of the heroes we need (and don’t deserve right now). In case you’ve been avoiding political news for the past few days, the CPAC conference has been going on, and Kellyanne Conway (the real one, not Kate McKinnon) showed up and said the following:

"“It’s difficult for me to call myself a feminist in the classic sense because it seems to be very anti-male and it certainly is very pro-abortion, in this context.”"

M-W not only reported that more people started looking up what feminism means, but also tweeted out their definition:

If there handn’t been a link to a post, that would have been a masterful subtweet. As it is, it’s still a nice response to the idea that feminist means “anti-man.”

Then, today, Entertainment Weekly posted a snippet of an interview with Emma Watson. She also happened to address this idea that feminism is somehow inherently against men.

"“I think the word is really difficult because it seems to inherently address a preferential treatment of the feminine over the masculine because it has the feminine in the word, and I think that’s a real oversight and misunderstanding.”"

If men feel upset that there’s a word that isn’t about them, a knee-jerk response is this:

A more inclusive response is to point out that intersectional feminism addresses not just issues of race (as very-well-explained in this program from NPR), but also of gender. There’s a reason toxic masculinity (explained by Salon) is a term, after all.

Next: The NYT Launches a Truth Campaign

Ultimately, Watson does have a point that there is a misunderstanding about what exactly feminism tackles. And everyone’s feminism might look just a little different. However, to suggest that feminism is just anti-men seems … general. Perhaps Merriam-Webster had a point in tweeting out that important definition.