Many women are reluctant to advocate feminism because they are uncertain about the meaning of the term. Other women from exploited and oppressed ethnic groups dismiss the term because they do not wish to be perceived as supporting a racist movement; feminism is often equated with white women’s rights effort. Large numbers of women see feminism as synonymous with lesbianism; their homophobia leads them to reject association with any group identified as pro-lesbian. Some women fear the word “feminism” because they shun identification with any political movement, especially one perceived as radical. Of course there are women who do not wish to be associated with women’s rights movement in any form so they reject and oppose feminist movement. Most women are more familiar with negative perspectives on “women’s lib” than the positive significations of feminism. It is this term’s positive political significance and power that we must now struggle to recover and maintain.
bell hooks, “Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center” (via mehreenkasana)
(via feminismisprettycool)
