Feminist. Bitch.

Just like me,

you've probably heard it before, too: Well, I believe in equal rights and equal pay. But I wouldn't call myself a "feminist."

What is it about the word "feminist" that has taken on such a negative connotation, such a pejorative play, that many women, while in fact promoting a feminist philosophy through their actions and their words, will shy away from actually being associated with the term?

The "f" word, feminism, is being treated like a "bad" word, one to be avoided even more than the perennial bad girl word - bitch.

I think in popular culture, "feminist" has become an appellation to be associated with a certain element of feminismone that generates urban legends (like the one about bra burnings; check out http://www.snopes.com/history/american/burnbra.htm) as effortlessly as a balloon rubbed on your hair will generate static electricity - the militantly feminist element. I personally wish the bra burning legend were true; I think it sounds fiercely liberating in a gloriously Amazonian way. In Greek mythology, the Amazons were a tribe of wild and warlike women who rode better and fought harder than any men (an interesting article on this legend can be found at Encyclopedia Mythica).

And of course there are militant take-no-prisoners feminists. There are aggressive and abrasive feminists and that is a good thing. But not everyone wants to be one. I think that many of the women who object to being labeled as feminists while espousing feminist tenets (such as the right to equal opportunity in all spheres of life) are objecting to being categorized in the main, the one and only, category that popular culture has afforded us: "man crushing Amazons who don't shave their legs and would rather cut off a breast than let it get in the way of a good shot with bow and arrow." There are also "makeup wearing, church going, bunny loving" feminists who feel more at home in a pair of heels than in a pair of combat boots. Are the two groups mutually exclusive? And what about the many different types that fall between those two extremes? Do they, do we all, have anything in common?

Feminist. Bitch.

There is a movement to appropriate the word "bitch," to make it into something empowering and hip. Bitch Magazine is an organ devoted to just such a goal with much success. (The first time I bought the magazine and had to explain to my nine-year old daughter why Mommy had a magazine with a "bad" word on it was an educational experience for us both. She really liked being treated respectfully in being told the history of the word and how the use of certain words shapes the way that we look at ourselves, others, and the world. She also liked the message of, "Boys, I'm taking charge here," which is inherent in claiming the word.)

It occurred to me to ask, Why doesn't someone do the same thing for the "f" word?

I thought of the women in my life that I am the most drawn to: the ones that I have admired the most, connected with most effortlessly, had crushes on, wanted to emulate - the women in my life that I love knowing. They are all feminists. And not one of those feminists is a cookie cutter feminist. They are all different. They come from different backgrounds, different political parties, different educational levels, have different proclivities and personalities. They range from militant to bunny-loving. And yet they are the same in what they have in common: their intelligence and their strength and their belief that they are entitled to equal opportunity in all spheres of life. These are women whom I have wanted to woo to my side, dazzle with my accomplishments, make laugh, and be there for. They are women that I learn from and grow with.

And I felt angry that these women whom I love and admire can't call themselves feminists without taking on a designation not of their own choosing. Why should mainstream media and popular culture be allowed to define something "feminism" that in turn can define them, and me, and you; expand what the meaning is to one broad definition that takes up the whole page, shrinks the margins of our definition so that there is only one denotation that wipes away all annotations and connotations, masks marginalia, strikes through scribbled notes, leaves no room for addendum? Why should we, why do we, feminists allow ourselves to be defined by someone/something else?

As an aside - why should I be looked down on by "hard liner" feminists because I like to wear heels, occasionally gloss my lips, and have been known to delight in a perfectly placed highlight? In following my own inclinations in regard to these things, disregarding attitudes and mores inculcated in me from childhood, I am being just as much of a feminist as someone who eschews any kind of artificial ornamentation - I am a "rebel with a lipstick cause." It's all about choices, personal choices, making the ones that are right for us individually and respecting others' choices as well.

Feministing. Bitching.

It occurred to me to ask not only, Why doesn't someone do the same thing for the "f" word? but also, Why don't I do the same thing for the "f" word? Why not try?

And so I decided to invite the feminists that I know to define themselves, through pictures and words. They were invited to submit a photo of their choosing along with a statement that they felt expressed their feminism. I would, in turn, make these into photoems. The photoems would be a group project of sorts - a kind of "feminista-wikipedia" that would be housed on MNArtists.org.

With this project, we are taking the "f" word and making of it something of our own. We are putting a face to feminism of our own making, showing the many different faces of feminism. We are visually demonstrating this with real individuals - not crafted caricatures. We are also enlarging the current dialogue about what it means to be a feminist. This project is expanding to include not just women personally known to me but also those women known to the women in this project that I don't know - and then the women that are known to the second stage of participants but unknown to the first - kind of a 'six degrees of separation' effect, visually demonstrating how we are alldespite our differences - connected.

So now, I am finding myself in the happy position of not just "bitching" about the limited representation in regard to feminism, but actually "feministing," putting my hand to shaping what I want the word to be - a mirror that we can hold up and see ourselves within, something that reflects each of us - individually. But I am not doing this by myself. While I am putting my hand to this, I am also joining hands with the women in this project. We are making and doing this together.

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