Feminism is a pretty easy word to define, right? The positive definitions are usually something like, "Feminism is the movement for women's equality." Sounds simple enough, yes? But how do you define the word "woman?" And, thanks to intersectionality and third-wave feminism, we have to account for all the various aspects of a woman's identity, not merely her gender. Bonding together as women to fight oppression gets a lot more difficult when we take individual difference into consideration.
This week, the ladies of SNL (Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, host Ariana Grande, Aidy Bryant, Sasheer Zamata, Vanessa Bayer, and Leslie Jones) took these concerns and put them in song form, ironically titling it "This Is Not a Feminist Song." Since March is Women's History Month, they wanted to write a feminist anthem, but when they tried to create one, it was too hard. Feminism, it turns out, is "pretty nuanced stuff" and they were "scared of doing [the song] wrong." So, instead, they made it clear that this was not a feminist song, so no one could complain.
Well, I guess they failed, because from what I saw, it looked pretty feminist to me. For example, take a look at one of the lyrics that Cecily Strong sings, "Every woman has a struggle, and every struggle's real/But just try and write a song that captures every woman's deal." She's right; it's impossible to accurately represent the struggles of every woman in a single song. It simply can't be done. But at least they thought incorporating different women's lived experiences was important, which a lot of so-called feminists don't. (For the record, there was a very diverse group of women in the video, which was great to see!)
Of course, there were standard music video tropes like slow-motion running in the sand, lens flares, and a close-up shot of an old woman's hands. ("Not to call a woman 'old,' or judge a woman's hands," as Kate McKinnon quickly qualifies.) All of this is done with a great sense of humor, because, duh, it's SNL! But it also sheds a more positive light on third-wave feminism, which it often doesn't get a lot of. Sure, it's exhausting to constantly ensure that your remarks aren't sexist, racist, classist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or ageist, and maybe that has the "negative" effect of P.C. culture. However, it could also be a sign that people are becoming more sensitive towards those who are different from themselves. Is that really such a bad thing?
"This Is Not a Feminist Song" might not have intended to be be a feminist anthem, but it certainly does do a great job of explaining the complexities of third-wave feminism. Plus, it's incredibly catchy! Check out the entire video below:
