Really, really a wonderful post, Sophie. I'm so glad to see others like me thinking on this. The questions you raise should continue to be raised until we address them.

I love your last line: "And as long as we allow people to put us in our place, we'll always have a place that constrains us."

Fabulous post. So glad you shared it with us!

You have some very cool links in this post. I enjoyed reading your post all the way through without following the links the first time - and thought it was a well-written and persuasive post. Then, I went back and read it and followed each of the links - perfect additions! It's good to see young women pick up the mantle of gender equality.

I am a feminist. I do believe that this political and ideological movement is as critical in the U.S. today as it was during suffragism and the push for the Equal Rights Amendment, though for different reasons. Certainly, progress has been made. Nonetheless, gender does impede equality. Glass ceilings still do exist and are implanted firmly in many professions and geographic areas. Only a concerted, committed fight for equality will accomplish the agenda of equal rights and protection so desperately needed today.

Complacency produces regressive social and political movement. Hard-fought social justice can be eroded when advances are taken for granted. The backlash about which you write is real and, in places, scathing. While feminism has not achieved equality (a process not an endpoint), its legacy here is most assuredly not simply anti-feminism, in my opinion. The backlash must embolden the movement, not cause some to shrink away.

I teach at Fort Hays State and taught a contemporary feminist rhetoric class this spring. Part of the feminist legacy at FHSU is on-campus classes suffer mightily, while on-line courses are filled (often with local women). You are right: many women (and men) students are reluctant to identify themselves as feminists in a campus environment, though the interest is definitely there. Seven students took the class, four women and three men. I believe the feminist tradition domestically and internationally is robust, diverse, provocative, and profound.

Commodification and objectification by men and women erect significant roadblocks along the road to equality. Feminism is a regular feature in all of the classes I teach and the student response is decidedly mixed. A vilification of so-called "political correctness" has actually caused erosion of feminist advances. Easy colloquialisms like "guys" has introduced new generations to the erasure of women from their everyday vernacular, with concomitant consequences in the ways people think about who we are.

There are other risks attendant to the feminist agenda, when not carefully articulated. Equality between men and women itself risks the exclusion of many different types of people who do not fit neatly into either category and naturalizes as biological these markedly social categories—e.g., naturally-occurring hermaphrodites, pre-operative individuals, certain transgendered folks, and a host of others who do not accept the false biological dichotomy between male and female. Queer studies and its social justice agenda seeks to remedy many of these shortcomings in traditional feminism.

Still, there is a powerful need for a traditional gender and sexual equality movement, especially in places like western Kansas. There certainly was a different sensibility when I was studying in Austin during the 90's. Geography plays an important role in how any political/ideological agenda is formulated and enacted.

I support strongly much of what you write, Sophie. However, I think you misunderstand "lipstick feminism," which is a type of feminism that does not critique objectification, like using make-up, lipstick, and, in its more radical forms, prostitution, nude dancing, exhibitionism, and the like. Women who choose not to follow the social convention (ritual) of shaving their legs or armpits seemed to be the antithesis of self-objectification, since, especially in western Kansas, such women are regularly denigrated, stared at, and often seen as less "desirable.” I celebrate the courage of those women and men (and those who do not fit into either category) to follow their own path. As to the question of "a gut" on women, there seems to be too much bigotry aimed at people who do not conform to the "beauty myth" (not that you are encouraging such bigotry): also, how does having "a gut" indicate lipstick feminism, let alone feminism at all, unless there is a presumption that women are supposed to be [fill in the blank] shape.

I really appreciate your comments, Bill. I know very little about the feminist movement and your remarks have opened my eyes to just how complex it can be to navigate. At some point I'll get around to expanding on the first half of my post - the portrayal of fictional women in the media. I hope you'll offer more of your insight at that time.

Sophie, I look forward to you posting more about feminism. I too am learning.

I really enjoyed the article as sometimes it is hard to see that sexism is still prevelant since I am a guy. What I really found interesting was the last paragraph, specifically "Women are more afraid of being called a feminist...". What struck me about this was the title of this blog post, feminist rant from an anti-feminist. I think that does a really good job of driving the point through. I am not sure if you intended that or if it was subconcious. If it is subconcious, it definitely adds more to your point. great post Sophie.