Not just strictly feminist stuff...

Here’s my friend Kelli on the stereotyping she faces as a “geek girl.” Although I’m not really in geek culture—I’ve certainly witnessed the attitudes she is referencing before. And I personally faced some pretty strong objectifying from older adult men when I was a wee little teenage Nerdy Feminist who attended Comicon with her boyfriend. 

The part that I would challenge Kelli on is her discomfort with the “feminist” label. Too often I hear people suggest other terms for it like Kelli has done here (humanist). I’ll always stand by this philosophy and term because in my opinion, to give up the word is to surrender to the negative stereotypes associated with feminists. I’ve written a ton about how I firmly believe that if you are against sexist oppression, you are a feminist, and that’s OK, dammit! 

But then again, I don’t get to choose how anyone identifies, and I would much rather focus my attention on ending the sexism that’s ever-present in our society than quibble over terms like this. I do get a little tired of feeling like I’m habitually on the defense for my world view, but that isn’t the biggest fish to fry. 

kelliartography:

Over the last few days, I have really been thinking about how difficult it still is for women to get the same respect as men in many of the fields I work in. I have been lucky in my life that I have not experienced much overt sexism. This is still progress considering where society came from….