"No, but..." Feminism, no one wants to say the "F" word

"About one-third of our content analysis sample refers to a growing phenomenon that we call "no, but..." feminism. In this new version of feminism, women resist being labeled (or labeling themselves) as feminists, but they still endorse feminist objectives of gender equity." --The Myth of Postfeminism, p. 883

   This "no, but..." feminism concept is all too pertinent in every day exchanges and within the daily media. At some point Americans reached a degree of feministic equality, sometime during the 1980s, when all of the solidified complaints feminists made in defense of women were solved. The right to vote, equal pay in the workforce, accessibility to birth control, sexual freedom, anti-sexual harassment codes of conduct, and many other problems women had been arguing against for years were finally over. At this point America breathed a sigh of relief and largely abandoned the notion that any more feminist movements needed to occur, what else did women need anyway? Thus, any lingering feminists were met with raised eyebrows, rolling eyes, and a certain degree of agitated hostility. Feminism is over, at this point women who remained on the soap box did so for their own entertainment. This is when feminism gained its stigma that remains on into today, the stigma of "postfeminism" and that any people that declare themselves "feminists" now are raging extremists.

   What Americans forgot to address were the long-lasting affects of all the tangible anti-feminist doctrines that had gone on for so long. Anti-feminism was not over, it holds fast even today, and even in the minds of people who would outwardly say they agree women are equal to men and that they should be rightfully, then sneer at a woman who runs for president and discount her support and achievements as the result of "crazy feminists." The bitterness that has accumulated behind feminism is that of people who believe that women who still complain about women's rights are nitpicking. I found this quote about "no, but..." feminism to be the most relevant to everyday life. I have heard friends utter the very phrase, and many women who fit the definition of a feminist discard the label in order to legitimize their feelings, "Look I'm no feminist, but this is not fair..." I have heard in many a classroom and it works in contrast to people who stand up and say they think something is anti-feminist.

   Shortly after the recent presidential election I came across a YouTube video created by www.womensmediacenter.com about the prevalence of sexism that still permeates our society today. The video was a compilation of all the major news coverage from networks both conservative and liberal, FOX and MSNBC, and the atrociously sexist/anti-feminists remarks made in the course of the election year. Most of the comments made were predominantly about Hillary Clinton, but some were even about fellow news casters and professionals of the female persuasion. Such statements were made as, "If you look at the calculation that goes into everything Hillary Clinton does, for her to argue that she was not aware of what she was communicating by her dress is like Barry Bonds saying he thought he was rubbing down with flaxseed oil," "Men wont vote for Hillary Clinton because she reminds them of their nagging wives," "When she comes on television I involuntarily cross my legs," and "Men are depressed and it's their own fault because men are allowing women to take over the world." Most of the comments made although heinous were laughed off.

Sexism Sells --But We're Not Buying It video

   This video points out just how deeply the issue of inequality for women runs in our culture and how far it is from being resolved. Most of the comments made were so embedded in the conversations between pundits that I myself did not even really notice them until they were isolated and brought to my attention. Through what I have read of The Myth of Postfeminism and through what I have seen within my own social circles and in the media, the high negative ratings Sex and the City received from men who had not even seen the movie but declared dislike of seeing an all women cast on sites like the International Movie Database, to harshness with which Hillary Clinton was met in her progress through the campaign year, and Warner Brothers' president Jeff Robinov and his statement "We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead," according to DeadlineHollywood allegedly because all movies with female leads thus far have bombed in the box office the inequality toward women rages on into the new decade.