Assumptions

Sorry I haven't posted for the longest time, and I'm definitely going to make up for it. For instance, from a recent Newsweek article about pregnant surrogates:

"many conservative Christians decry the practice as tampering with the miracle of life, while far-left feminists liken gestational carriers to prostitutes who degrade themselves by renting out their bodies."

What? I have literally never heard that once in my years (admittedly few, but whatever) as a feminist. Of course, there were no sources to accompany this bold statement. On examining the statement, I found that the only source to really condemn the practice was an old edition of OBOS. And we all know that the Boston's Women Health Book Collective, while a group that I am immensely grateful for and respect deeply, certainly does not speak for all feminists.

But constantly and completely, feminism is regarded as some overarching set of rules and beliefs that are always used against us, rather than the loose philosophy and common goal that it is. People who are misinformed or in the media often blame things on "the feminists" or say that "the feminists" think such-and-such.

Funny, I was not aware that there was a group called "the feminists" who all went around complaining and constantly trying to ruin everyone's lives.

A few days ago in class, the subject of politics came up. One girl immediately says, "But you know what I really hate? Those women's liberalists! (emphasis original) I heard about how they all want to change the law so that firemen have to be called firepeople and that all the words with 'his' and 'men' in it should be changed!"

Of course. Us "women's liberalists", who always have the same opinions on everything, have nothing better to do than change the rules of grammar. It's not as if we're busy with a female presidential candidate, protecting our reproductive rights, working for queer acceptance, erasing the wage gap, ending harassment and violence and rape against women, trying to improve the status of women worldwide, pass the ERA, combat sexism, and subvert the patriarchy.

If "we feminists" are all part of one exclusive club, I want to know when the next meeting is.