Re: Feminism

Many have asked if my online alias ‘superfem’ means that I am a ‘super feminist.’

Not exactly.

In today’s clime where most of women’s struggles are for social equality (rather than, say, suffrage), feminism is a tricky movement. It is sensitive and defensive, frequently at odds with itself — an exclusive and pejorative struggle for inclusion.

That’s not to diminish the obvious inequality that still separates men and women. Feminism fights a very, very real problem. I face it all the time, implicitly or explicitly, especially as a female who has been involved in technology for the past dozen years. I manage the disparity by reframing it as an advantageous underdog position — an unwitting opportunity to prove people otherwise. But, it also angers me, awakening a pang of potential feminist energy.

My response to being slighted, however, is usually gender neutral.

When it comes to fixing misperceptions, I prefer not to stand up for my gender on the basis of its biology but rather to defend my individual competency. I think this is true for fixing the larger societal issue as well.

To fight inequality, we should quit using sexist defenses in response to sexist attacks. Where the issue should not be sexual, why allow it to be discussed in sexual terms?

It’s my hope that the gender war will be won this way. Not by plaintive vaginas demanding recognition but by individuals whose real life successes and evangelism finally demonstrate equality. Real women and those who believe in them getting shit done in public life in numbers large enough to make equality undeniable.

We should be proving ourselves, not pretending that our demographics will do it for us.