This was such an interesting read Sara. Love the term femme-forward. The historian in me feels an allegiance to early feminists and is happy to wear the label (and take any heat that comes with it). I shudder at making feminism too palatable when the crimes against women, children and men by the dominant patriarchy worldwide are so heinous. As marketing terms go, I think it's clever!
Also, I think using femme-forward might be a great protective label to shield creatives from internet trolls specifically scanning for 'feminist' art and voices to attack.
These are great points Annie and I agree with all of it - we can't afford to lose feminism but we also have to be savvy about how it's been manipulated to mean different things and look for ways to cut through all that noise! I definitely get more trolls whenever I write anything with certain feminist keywords!
Congrats on the #1 spot on Booktopia, Sara! And crossing all the things for your TV option for THE HUSH – exciting!
This is so interesting, thank you. Like you, feminist is a description I’ve always worn happily and therefore I’d describe my writing that way. But I’ve definitely seen women – women who are unequivocally ‘feminist’ in the life values – turn away from or even vehemently reject the term. (Things like ‘I’m not a feminist, I’m an 'egalitarianist.’) Language certainly does evolve and I suspect the label of ‘feminist’ is undergoing an evolution. I’d love to say it’s because we’re post-feminist and we don’t need it but I sadly don’t think that’s quite the case yet!
Thanks for this comment Kim - it's good to know you feel and experience similar things! I find this all so interesting, because how do we keep the focus on progress when the term becomes so loaded and confusing. I'd love to have the chance to study this more - I'm really trying to make the time to do some research! I was quite shocked when one of my PhD supervisors showed me all the anti-feminism stuff on TikTok, mostly from young girls who believe that women have equality and there are no deeper or more complex problems. So much to unpack here!
This was such an interesting read Sara. Love the term femme-forward. The historian in me feels an allegiance to early feminists and is happy to wear the label (and take any heat that comes with it). I shudder at making feminism too palatable when the crimes against women, children and men by the dominant patriarchy worldwide are so heinous. As marketing terms go, I think it's clever!
Also, I think using femme-forward might be a great protective label to shield creatives from internet trolls specifically scanning for 'feminist' art and voices to attack.
These are great points Annie and I agree with all of it - we can't afford to lose feminism but we also have to be savvy about how it's been manipulated to mean different things and look for ways to cut through all that noise! I definitely get more trolls whenever I write anything with certain feminist keywords!
Congrats on the #1 spot on Booktopia, Sara! And crossing all the things for your TV option for THE HUSH – exciting!
This is so interesting, thank you. Like you, feminist is a description I’ve always worn happily and therefore I’d describe my writing that way. But I’ve definitely seen women – women who are unequivocally ‘feminist’ in the life values – turn away from or even vehemently reject the term. (Things like ‘I’m not a feminist, I’m an 'egalitarianist.’) Language certainly does evolve and I suspect the label of ‘feminist’ is undergoing an evolution. I’d love to say it’s because we’re post-feminist and we don’t need it but I sadly don’t think that’s quite the case yet!
Thanks for this comment Kim - it's good to know you feel and experience similar things! I find this all so interesting, because how do we keep the focus on progress when the term becomes so loaded and confusing. I'd love to have the chance to study this more - I'm really trying to make the time to do some research! I was quite shocked when one of my PhD supervisors showed me all the anti-feminism stuff on TikTok, mostly from young girls who believe that women have equality and there are no deeper or more complex problems. So much to unpack here!