I’m a cis male and I believe in the importance of feminism, but I hesitate to call myself a feminist because it seems like there is a presumption of understanding women’s experiences as if I was part of the Me Too movement. In some binary sense given how hateful and shitty men can be I’m absolutely a feminist, but I wouldn’t declare myself to be one. What is your standpoint?
I prefer the term “egalitarian”. Functionally the same, but firmly places the focus on equality regardless of gender, and creates distance from the toxic misandrists who have tried to co-opt the “feminist” label.
Most feminists I’ve talked to about it say they hate people who describe themselves as “egalitarian,” essentially equating it to the “enlightened centrist” meme.
And I hate the misandrists who describe themselves as “feminists”, equating it with the “red pill” guys who turned a metaphor for radical systemic awareness into misogyny.
True, but they seem to dominate every feminist space I’ve been in, so the definition of “feminist” is hard for me to work out; nicer people seem to think it’s 1:1 with “egalitarian,” but then why have two words for the same thing?
So my conclusion has been that I’ll just keep voting and speaking in the interests of making our world treat men and women equally, and just shrug my shoulders at the labels. As I said elsewhere, that’s not enough for some feminists, so they’ll just have to continue disliking me. Misogynists dislike me too, so I’m used to it.