Must every woman be a feminist?

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Then what are you trying to say? 42 million abortions annually are horrible. It doesn’t put other murders on a lesser plane.
 
I believe that they out view in feminism as dramatically changed over the past years. It’s easy to agree that everyone should be treated equally and you agree with that. The representation of feminism has gone so far off the rails to the point that, it you agree with their beliefs you are considered the crazy ones who take things to far and if you oppose the beliefs of them you’re the misogynistic woman who has “betrayed her own kind” for not supporting equality. The way I see it that no, every woman doesn’t have to be a feminist however, everyone should support equality and there shouldn’t be a need for labels.
 
Sometimes I say I’m a feminist, sometimes I don’t. It depends on my audience, because feminist is somewhat a political term to describe left wing politics to most Westerners.

Over here it just means advancing women’s rights and interests to achieve equality. Of course it’s a broad definition which includes both left and right wing interests, so it requires more elaboration when I say that I’m a feminist.

The Catholic Feminist (a podcast) would be a good example of feminism that’s compatible with the Church’s teachings.

I do think there is sexist views (e.g. Timothy Gordon and his wife’s take on gender) within the Church because we are all flawed.

I never really treat the term feminist as an all encompassing term regarding my social and political beliefs. It’s just another word I use to describe my behaviour and thoughts regarding a certain field. I’m an introvert, I’m reserved, I’m pro-science etc.

I would never adopt that term as my identity in the way many left wing women do, but i would also never abandon the term in the way many right wing women do. Mainly because feminism in an umbrella term with many schools of thought. Currently, one school of thought is the loudest and most controlling. But the other perspectives still remain.
 
MagdalenaRita said:
My feeling is that Christianity is the way to fight injustices. It is the only way that includes everyone from conception to death and there is no anger, hatred or screaming involved.
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Christianity isn’t a social movement though.

Christian values is inherently against injustice, of course, but Christians are people who believe in Christ. It doesn’t imply any activism.

That’s why we have the Civil Rights Movement, the suffragettes etc. There are Christians values embedded in it, but these are movements that everyone can join in. Even the pro life movement.

Without these movements, you will still have Christians but no tangible progress. Think white Christian slave owners, or the early Church who would keel over if they see the freedom women have today.
 
I advocate for a more just world, I just don’t accept all the ways being used to get there (and I don’t believe I have to).
 
Lea101 said:
Christian values is inherently against injustice, of course, but Christians are people who believe in Christ. It doesn’t imply any activism.
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Our Catholic faith teaches us that we are to be active. We are to be doing works of mercy, carrying each other’s load and working for the social justices out of unselfish motives.
Lea101 said:
That’s why we have the Civil Rights Movement, the suffragettes etc. There are Christians values embedded in it, but these are movements that everyone can join in. Even the pro life movement.
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Some movements are born out of Christianity such as the pro-life movement. Feminism on the other hand has had very little movement due to Christianity. For the most part it has been a “me” movement. with little regard to the other gender or children, even from it’s beginnings in the previous century. Check out the 1916 silent film Where are My Children?
 
MagdalenaRita said:
Some movements are born out of Christianity such as the pro-life movement. Feminism on the other hand has had very little movement due to Christianity. For the most part it has been a “me” movement. with little regard to the other gender or children, even from it’s beginnings in the previous century. Check out the 1916 silent film Where are My Children?
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I don’t deny that. My point is that Christianity alone doesn’t guarantee equality because it’s not a social and political movement. Many Saints we know lived their lives or pursued other areas, instead of advocating for the rights of others based on race or gender. This shows us that Christianity by itself doesn’t guarantee political and social equality.
MagdalenaRita said:
Our Catholic faith teaches us that we are to be active. We are to be doing works of mercy, carrying each other’s load and working for the social justices out of unselfish motives.
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This, for example, doesn’t say anything about a woman’s right to own land.

Christianity isn’t political, so it doesn’t guarantee us political rights/liberties. It may have been un-Christianlike to punch and rape a woman then, but it wasn’t un-Christianlike to tell a woman to not participate in politics for instance, or that she can’t work. But feminism was the one fighting for the laws to be changed. It can be a dumpster fire at times, but who else is going to spark change? Definitely not most Christians at that time. Or anyone else, really.
 
I’m not feeling used, what I’m trying to say is that I believe in equality, in working to make the world a better place for everyone etc. I do not deny what the feminist movement has done for women and I applaud every action that has fought against discrimination and injustice. However, I do not identify with the movement because of some of the values they push for or the fact that in some cases instead, I get the impression that they are just not only trying to give women equal rights but they think women are better than men. But it feels like people want to enforce the “if you are a woman, then, you must be a feminist”. That is what I don’t agree with. People should let others be and not try to make them be part of something they do not want to be part of. From some answers that is the feeling I get and I don’t like it. I advocate for human rights, the fiction books I write denounce injustices (in context) and I try to make people think, I hope to always try to defend the rights of every human being, do I have the freedom to do that as a Catholic woman who does not embrace the feminist movement of today? Can I be free to do that without people trying to explain what being a feminist is (as if I reject it because I don’t really get what it is about and can’t have arrived at a conclusion from what I am seeing or experiencing)? Not being a feminist does not mean that I think the world is fine and I accept or agree with unfair situations, that is what I’m trying to say.
 
Patri said:
But it feels like people want to enforce the “if you are a woman, then, you must be a feminist”. That is what I don’t agree with.
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I’m not going to argue that. People should think for themselves and come to their own conclusions authentically, not because they’ve been peer-pressured or brow-beaten into it. That said, I still encourage you to check out the fabulous work of Feminists for Life. They opened doors to feminism for me that I, as an ex-“I’m-not-a-feminist-but,” never thought possible.
 
blackforest said:
an ex-“I’m-not-a-feminist-but,” never thought possible.
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I go back and forth depending on how lazy I am to explain my views, lol!

Generally speaking though, I do think “Catholic feminists” should continue to call themselves feminists. If every reasonable person bows out of the movement and leave the nuts behind, then the term is going to be tainted, and it’s not like the anti feminists are even paying attention to women’s issues after walking away. So their stance on equality doesn’t hold much weight because it only comes out when they’re being questioned (e.g think of the people who say they’re for equality but spend all their energy trying to discredit any instance of sexism that leftists bring up)

Catholic feminists stick to their faith and values yet they keep their focus on women’s issues, and I think they help with uniting both sides.
 
I understand what you are saying but certain rights or certain movements are born out of Christianity, where my point is that feminism is not born out of Christianity.
Lea101 said:
But feminism was the one fighting for the laws to be changed. It can be a dumpster fire at times, but who else is going to spark change? Definitely not most Christians at that time. Or anyone else, really.
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The laws that many feminists were fighting for were laws that would separate them from their husband and family. Many Christians did not fight for those laws because they are not in line with Christianity, especially the Church. Just the same as now Christian women are choosing not to join the feminist fight because what feminists are fighting for is not in line with Christianity.

The Church has fought for social changes and equal rights for both men and women. They just aren’t the same rights that feminists are asking for.
 
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That is what I mean, I don’t identify with all they fight for, I will try my best to follow the teachings of Christ and look out for everyone, men, women and children but, I will not describe myself as a feminist, it is not by identity. Those who want to fight change under that umbrella are free to do so, I will fight change as a mixed race catholic woman that has lived in both developing and developed countries.
 
Patri said:
I don’t identify with all they fight for, I will try my best to follow the teachings of Christ and look out for everyone, men, women and children but, I will not describe myself as a feminist, it is not by identity.
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This is exactly how I feel also.
 
blackforest said:
You don’t have to support abortion rights or even call yourself a “feminist” in order to support what is right.
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So true as labels only serve to categorize and separate people, enabling rules, policies & laws to be generated for these individual groups. Seems to be very discriminatory.
 
That “what-about” thing is important. Violence is violence, regardless of who it’s directed against.
 
MagdalenaRita said:
The laws that many feminists were fighting for were laws that would separate them from their husband and family
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Laws that allow women to work, vote etc aren’t inherently bad. For instance, we see many family oriented women who participate in politics.

There are many areas where it’s clearly anti Christian like abortion or pro sex industry, and there are some areas that reflect Christian values. With the help of JPII, who acknowledged that the Church should have been more open to giving women freedom, we see that gender equality as a concept is Christian. Preventing women from working, to him, is preventing humanity from what women can offer.

Anti feminists today are exercising their rights and liberties that they received from the help of these people, yet their families are intact.

So of course, I’m not defending feminism as a whole because there is a lot I disagree with, but the Church wouldn’t have fought to give me certain liberties or even explicitly support it without the outside pressure of feminism.
 
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