“I’m not a feminist, but…”
Image via Wikipedia
“I’m not a feminist, but…”
We’ve probably all heard this phrase spoken before, and we are definitely aware of its implications. I personally know several women who align themselves with feminism and the women’s movement, but for one reason or another refuse to define themselves as feminists. But why is this?
In a 1996 study titled “‘I Am Not a Feminist, but…’: College Women, Feminism, and Negative Experiences,” Joan K. Buschman and Silvo Lenart set out to answer this question. They gave women, ages 18 to 22 years old several questionnaires in order to find out why some women defined themselves as feminists and some didn’t.
What they discovered was interesting. Instead of trying to analyze all of it right now, I will just put a few quotes here and let you tell me what you think about the results.
Research centered on the attitudes of young women has shown that they willingly support both equality for women and expansive notions of appropriate gender roles.
We have argued that past formulations of the determinants of consciousness development – exposure to nontraditional gender roles – are no longer definitive, or even relevant, predictors of support for feminism.
Most interesting among our results was the specification of an attitude cluster which does not fit neatly into either the feminist or the post-feminist camp. These women, which we call the “precarious feminists,” are the largest group within our sample and are probably a good reflection of most young college women today. They have a moderately strong group identification as well as strong beliefs in individualism. One possible explanation for this result is to argue that such women recognize the need for group action generally, but in their individual cases feel that they will advance on their own merit. A sense of “not me” may be at work. A second possible explanation is that this distinct attitude pattern may be the result of the cross-pressures between a recognition that women’s status still needs improvement and a negative framing of the women’s movement in popular discourse.
The label “feminism” evokes many more negative responses than does the term “women’s movement” across all clusters.
And, finally, the most interesting insight (in my opinion):
Stereotyping of the movement in popular discourse (especially in the mass media) might be the more compelling cause of disassociation and should be the focus of more systematic research. Our final analyses show that the so-called “nontraditional” variable does not seem to operate any more… Rather, salient negative experiences (such as sexual harassment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence) did predict support [for feminism] across all clusters.
What do you think about this research? Is it outdated? Right on? Are there any other sources out there that extend this research? What about in real life? Have you encountered people who do not define themselves as feminist, but align themselves with the feminist movement?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=df76a0d3-71f4-4d4e-8ef6-01df64a55e1d)
A lot of women don’t identify with the feminist movement because they are deliberately excluded by it; I’m thinking in particular of trans women (and other gender-variant women), women of colour, and women with disabilities here. While they may have values which are considered “feminist,” they don’t want to label themselves as feminist because of the highly exclusionary attitude in mainstream feminism.
In a shameless plug for my man, you should check out his exploration of feminism and his decision to (eventually) call himself a feminist. It is here:
http://lebkin.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/an-ally-to-feminism/
http://lebkin.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/i-was-wrong/
He absolutely aligned himself with the feminist movement for years. I would not have married him if he didn’t actively support equality in word and action. It’s been interesting to see him decide that he really is a feminist, and no one can tell him different.
As for the research, I would say that yes, it is correct. Obviously, I can’t say that with the degree of certainty that I would like — 12 year old research in sociology feels a bit outdated to critique our current times. But the “I’m not a feminist, but” is absolutely what I experience with a lot of the women I come into contact with on a daily basis.
I actively attempt to combat that idea, and am a “out” feminist. The stereotypes of men-hating, baby-eating feminists are very prevalent today, and so just by being me and engaging in civil discourse, I can change people’s minds. Sorry to kind of hijack the comments section. This is something I feel rather strongly about.
@meloukhia Very true as well. Huge failing on the part of the feminist institutions, and the feminist-identified women engaged in those institutions.
I think in my area, there’s a lot of women that label feminist as a group of “the man hating women.” It’s hard for teenage girls to want to fit into a category that they’re not sure what it pertains, or seems out of the norm from the rest of their peers. So although they may agree with feminist values, they’re not going to want to be “grouped” with them- forbidding them to speak out as a “feminist.” Not to mention “majority” of women (not all) are conditioned to be submissive to the “dominant gender”- so if their mind-set coincides with this misconstrued notion of feminism, then of course they don’t want that label. Anyway, this is a great topic! Thank you for making us aware of this study!
Pingback:“I’m not a feminst, but…” Continued | Small Strokes
I’ve always wanted to write a book about the neg. connotation about the term feminism. If a woman is working and paying her own bills, that’s feminism. People get confused betw the term feminism and women’s rights movement an the activism aspect of feminism. Then there’s the newer part of feminism being about not liking men or being “dyke-y” or not feminine as you have discussed quite often very well here.
Pingback:Link Love Collection « The Feminist Texican
Pingback:Wednesday Link Love « The Feminist Texican
I am actually the daughter of Silvo Lenart (one of the authors of this study) and I grew up with the idea that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a feminist. It wasn’t until high school that people would give me a hard time if I said I considered myself a feminist or I supported the feminist movement. Even now, as a college student, I find it sad and confusing when my female friends who take gender studies classes complain about their “crazy femo-nazi professor”. It has always been hard for me to understand what is so bad about wanting equal rights for women and what is so scary about a powerful woman. I’m glad that people are still reading my dad’s article and contemplating how valid the results are even today.