Hi power5483,

Having read and absorbed many of Mary Shelly Wolstonecraft's views as an adolescent boy, I've always wanted to be a feminist.

I couldn't qualify to be a feminist because of #3. "feminine character". This makes me not gay as in not happy.

Is it really a necessary part of the feminist definition?

SC

"Going back to first principles, vice skulks, with all its native deformity, from close investigation; but a set of shallow reasoners are always exclaiming that these arguments prove too much, and that a measure rotten at the core may be expedient. Thus expediency is continually contrasted with simple principles, till truth is lost in a mist of words, virtue, in forms, and knowledge rendered a sounding nothing, by the specious prejudices that assume its name." M.S.W.

Like Mr. Carpenter, I strive to be a feminist, which to me means respecting women, seeking their input and perspectives, and promoting legal equality. But that's a male-oriented definition. Regardless, I think feminism is a good thing. It is progress. Those who use the term as a pejorative are dull cowards, men like Limbaugh and O'Reilly whose purpose is to dig deep moats around their own stupidity and hurl feces at all who dare cross. The counterattack to the empowerment of women and minorities has been an empowerment of idiots.

Feminism has gotten more interesting in recent decades as women have re-embraced their sexuality. The push for legal equality engendered a sense of androgyny, wherein any asserted difference between the sexes was rejected as a cultural artifact. But there are biological differences, physically and psychologically, and feminism is moving toward embracing these differences and exploring the different ways men and women approach challenges and problems. We are moving past a contrived, literal equality toward a sense of being equally important complements.