Language is interpretative. The way someone says something, or the way something may be written can appear differently to people based on mental, emotional and cognitive skill. Past experiences, regional dialect and even the amount of English courses taken can affect how someone sees something, or defines it regardless of its organically concrete definition.
The word "feminism" means a lot of things to a lot of different people. To me, it makes me feel empowered. It makes me feel strong, and makes me feel as if I stand alongside women and men of all different nationalities and backgrounds for one goal: equality. To others, it means the exact opposite.
Feminism is a movement that began during the early 1900's, when American women began to stand against the government's decision to exclude them from voting. From then on, people all around the world became a part of women's liberation, which initiated a first, second, third and fourth wave of freedom and fundamental rights.
A lot of women I've talked to don't identify as a feminist. Why? Because to them, it means exclusivity. It's a term that makes them feel less like a woman, and more like a warrior fighting a battle they think doesn't apply to them. It means that they forfeit their domestic identities that they are comfortable with.
I understand why women aren't feminists, because they are just as entitled to their dissent from the role as I am in honoring it. It is my job, as a feminist, to fight for every women's rights, even if they don't believe in what I'm fighting for. Equality is not subjective; when it becomes selective, it becomes futile.
As Roxane Gay said, I am not a picturesque patron for the matriarchy. I am no perfect woman. I do things I am not supposed to, and I in no way put myself on the feminine pedestal of hierarchy and egotism. I fight for all women, even the ones who don't agree with what I stand for.
Feminism is, at the end of the day, a balance of respect and resistance. The difference is that the reflection of other people's views does not tamper with my passion to ignite change.
