"Feminist" Is Not A Dirty Word

I was watching CNN news this morning, and one topic that was under discussion is whether the word "feminist" has become obsolete. One argument made was that the term has such different meaning to each individual that there isn't much point in using it. Another point made was that the term "feminist" shouldn't continue to be used because it has so many negative connotations to so many people. It was even said that, to some, "feminist" is the "F" word.
At first, I laughed at this. What term, particularly political terminology, doesn't mean different things to different people? We all see the world in our own, unique way. If we start tossing aside all the language that has unclear meaning or words that have negative connotations to some people, would we have an words left? What are we supposed to do? Revert back to silent gestures and body language because we fear our words might be misconstrued or too politically volatile? I think not.
I, particularly, chuckled at some comments made on CNN that the term "feminist" was not inclusive of all women; that it left out women, like Sarah Palin, for example, and seemed to represent an exclusive club. Ha! Who are we kidding? The only women left out by the term "feminist" are those, like Sarah Palin, who choose to be excluded through their words and, most significantly, through their actions.
Being a feminist is a choice that we all get to make. We have the freedom to do so because of the generations of feminists who came before us. They sacrificed. They struggled. They fought. They suffered heartbreaking loss and inspiring victories. Doubting the on-going value of the term "feminist" is a denial both of this amazing history and of the continuing battle for women's rights around the world.
I am proud to call myself a feminist. My great, great grandmother was forced by her Morman polygamous community to marry an elderly man when she was only twelve! It's not surprising that she told my grandmother that one of the happiest days in her life was the day the old lecher died. That, my friends, is the kind of world women with limited options have encountered. There are still groups today, such as the Taliban, for example, they still try to limit women's freedom. Life without feminist ideology is not pretty.
To be a "feminist" is to honor, respect and empower women everywhere. Feminists have worked over many, many years to give women the kinds of rights and opportunities that many women have today. Feminists still fight to increase these protections and freedoms in the United States and across the world. If we dismiss the term "feminist" as having gone the way of the corset, then we are denying that it was the efforts of feminists that made the corset go away.

Until I type again,
Kami