What’s in a name?

Before even understanding the term, I already described myself as a feminist and I easily got upset when people misuse the term. A student from a class I took during my freshmen year stated ” I am not a feminist because feminism only creates a farther gender imbalance. I identify more as an equalist.” Not to invalidate her being an equalist, but I think she had a deep misunderstanding of what feminism is and aims for. For me, feminism was never about women overpowering men or stating “off with their heads,” but it was more about fixing the gap and creating an equal understanding that all humans deserve. Coming from a Senegalese family where patriarchy is still dominant, I had to learn about feminism independently. I have a very strong yet traditional mother who still holds the believes ingrained in gender roles. I have come to consider myself as a learning feminist because I am learning that different women want different things. There are women who want to remain in a patriarchal home and there are those who seek modern reinventions of gender differences and gender roles. Learning that as a form of feminism is where I am in my journey as a so called feminist.

I think there is a great misunderstanding of feminism and a great misuse of the term. For some reason, there are women activists who refused to identify with feminism though their ideas are similar in thought. The radical women who organized around feminist issues are still, to me at least, feminists as they sought to liberate women in whatever form that takes. The works of the women we have discussed mainly pays attention to feminism for women of color.  There is an obvious difference between white feminism and WOC feminism. I like to explain this difference by saying “white feminism concern equal pay but WOC feminism concern more with getting the job first before the equal pay.”