“Feminist,” Not to be Confused with “Woman”

As the 2014 midterm election approached, I took the time to work with progressive Missouri organizations that would call voters and encourage them to vote for particular candidates based on their beliefs regarding liberal issues, such as LGBT equality. In return, I received a number of phone calls  from voters asking who their representative was, what Candidate A’s viewpoint was concerning Issue B, or quite frankly, who they should vote for.

The evening before election day, one passionate woman called me, asking which candidates for the state judiciary were endorsed regarding that particular candidate’s beliefs on LGBT issues. I reluctantly informed her that although we do not necessarily endorse a particular judicial candidate, she should take the time to look up what cases the judges in question had taken up in the past, how they had ruled, etc.

Her solution? Vote for the woman—because of her assumption that any female candidate would prove to be synonymous with a liberal-minded feminist.

Unfortunately, this misconception is common: the delusion that identifying as a woman automatically makes that woman a feminist. There exist many attributes that make women distinct from one another, whether it be their cultural upbringing, education level, career choice, or personal characteristics. It is the composition of these different identities that can change a woman’s beliefs to align with or reject feminist convictions.

Phyllis Schlafly (Image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

For example:

• Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative icon we can always count on, who concluded that universities are becoming crowded by women wanting to receive an education—her explanation for the increasing number of sexual assaults on college campuses each year.
• Representative Virginia Foxx from North Carolina, who was one of many co-sponsors of HR-7, which would eliminate insurance coverage for abortions and place a tax on the small businesses that do include abortion coverage in their employee health plans.
• Celebrities such as Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry who have denounced feminism, usually due to the negative connotations that tend to follow the term.
• Oklahoma Representative Sally Kerns, who filed three bills targeting the LGBT community. These bills include allowing businesses to refuse service to LGBT customers, conversion therapy for those who identify as LGBT, and an anti-marriage equality bill.
• Representative Betty Brown, a lawmaker from Texas who said that voters that identify as Asian American should consider names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”
• And these women and their reasons for not needing feminism because they feel that they are not oppressed, believe in equality, think that they receive equal pay, etc.—the list goes on.

And this list is just the tip of the iceberg. When you go to vote, whether in your upcoming local election, the midterm election, the presidential election, or even the student council election, knowing your facts is key to electing an individual who has beliefs similar to yours. Just because a candidate has a similar appearance to your own does not mean that he or she has the same ideas as you.

Though I was taken aback by the voter’s comment to “vote for the woman,” at the end of the day, I advised this voter not to judge a book by its cover and to vote for a candidate who aligned with her beliefs, not her physical makeup.

Header image credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr