Very interesting article in the Life magazine segment of the Sunday Independent today, featuring Rosanna Davison in all her glorious ignorance! I thought the headline 'Don't Call Me A Feminist' was some kind of bait designed to get me riled up enough to read the article but unfortunately I was wrong.
In an interview with Life magazine (which I will link here) Rosanna talks about supporting equal pay for women and wanting women to be financially independent yet even though all of these things are indicative of someone with a feminist ideology, she states she doesn't want to be referred to as a feminist.
It honestly makes me laugh so hard when people are like 'Oh yeah big supporter of equal rights for women but don't label me a feminist!' Sweetheart what exactly do you think a feminist is? Because I have news for you, you literally just defined it.
Fair enough, that particular f word has some very negative connotations, I used to be so reluctant to use it because it had bad things associated with it but do you know what happened? I grew up. I'm a woman and I'm a feminist, a proud one at that.
It is so disappointing that someone in the public eye who has such an influence was totally ok with showcasing her ignorance and reinforcing the negative attitude around the term 'feminism'. For the love of Christ, it's 2015, this shouldn't be up for discussion anymore. Any woman (or any man for that matter) who doesn't want to be called a feminist is an idiot. Simple as. No ifs, ands or buts. If you believe in equality of the sexes then you are a feminist.
People in the public eye have more of a duty that any of the rest of us when it comes to breaking down these kinds of stereotypes. Rosanna Davison has a far wider reach with what she says than with what I say. Imagine all the young girls (and boys) who read that article today. I would imagine that plenty of them are mature enough to see the flaw in what Rosanna said but some of them might already be conditioned to think of feminists as bra burning, men hating bitches so that view has been reinforced.
I kind of love that some people are scared of the word feminism, that almost makes me identify with the label even more. I'm scary because I'm smart? Excellent. I'm intimidating because I know what I want? Fabulous. Feminists are terrifying because they're not afraid to stand up for themselves and anyone else who needs it? Wonderful. I'm a scary feminist and I'm completely on board with that.
I hope that there's a least a little bit of backlash to this article which will hopefully get Rosanna to re-think her definition of feminist. Girls supporting girls is the most important thing and even though she put out an ill informed opinion, she's still a beautiful and smart lady and I hope she sees the feminist light and comes to my next bra burning sesh in my back garden ;)
#posivibes til the end hunz xo
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