Hey, I’m Caroline, and I’m a feminist! I look like this (see below). Please allow my cheerful grin to encourage you to read the entirety of this piece.
And this guy right here, this is Adolf Hitler, a Nazi! The leader of the Nazi Party, to be exact. He looked like this. (I promise this is going somewhere good)
Last, and least, this is Rush Limbaugh. Below, you’ll see my favorite picture of him.
If it’s not already blatantly obvious, I’m very different, physically, from those two men. It goes deeper than this, if you didn’t already assume as much, as I don’t align with any of their thoughts, values, emotions, or ideas.
Rush Limbaugh so kindly coined the term ‘feminazi‘ in the early 1990s. If you aren’t familiar with him, you’re lucky. Limbaugh is an American ‘entertainer’ according to wikipedia, and is most well-known for his conservative political views and commentating.Â
Here, David provided the perfect example of how to use the word in a sentence (or phrase, in this case) –
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In 1992, Limbaugh stated that he prefers to “call the most obnoxious feminist what they really are: feminazis. … I often use it to describe women who are obsessed with perpetuating a modern-day holocaust: Abortion.” Rush Limbaugh also stated that “feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream.” Not quite, Rush. Rather, feminism was built upon the radical concept of *gasp* equality. And while we’re at it, let’s stop judging women based on their physical appearance.Â
So, a white man penned the noun “feminazi.” In case it isn’t clear, this dude combined “feminist” with “nazi.” The thing is, buddy, I don’t think I’m a Nazi. As a matter of fact, I’m 100% certain I don’t align with the Nazi Party’s ideals and values.
As a feminist, who, I might add, has been called “cute” more times than a twenty year old girl would like, I stand for equality of all people. Let me repeat that one more time for the people in the back:Â I, a young woman considered to be attractive by some, meaning my physical appearance aligns with society’s ideals of beauty, am a feminist. I find mainstream society and media pretty easy to access, and I’ve never seen an ‘unattractive’ feminist. So, Rush, your point I mentioned above? Yeah, it’s not valid.
Feminists are attractive because of what’s resting in their skull. A big, intimidating, sturdy brain that drives them in their fight for equality of the sexes. They are beautiful in the way they choose to love rather than hate. In the strength they have within their hearts and minds to keep going, despite the forces pushing them down.Â
And yes, I am pro-choice. And no, that doesn’t make me a killer. Lastly, hell no, that doesn’t make me a Nazi. I believe in the radical idea that women deserve the right to choose what goes down with their body. Who touches it; when, if ever, babies are growing in it; what contraception, if any, they choose to take.
Rush, and anyone who has ever used the term ‘feminazi’ and genuinely meant it, do you know what the Nazi Party did?
Under Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany banned Jews from most public places in Germany by 1938. During the war, the Nazis’ campaign against the Jewish people increased in its terror. In Poland, death camps popped up. Ever heard of Auschwitz? Yeah, Nazis did that. By the time Hitler committed suicide in 1945, more than 6 million Jews had died.
A Nazi is a member of a German fascist party. Nowadays, I’m sad to say, there’s an updated definition. A Nazi might be someone who espouses the beliefs and policies of the German Nazis. This means they support fascism and inequality within humanity. Inequality to the point of mass murder of entire populations of specific people.
A feminist is a person, of any sex, mind you, who believes that all of the sexes should have equality, be it politically, economically, or socially. Ideally, a triple threat of equality rockin’ around the world would be the dream. Is that in the forseeable future? Sorry to burst your bubble, Rush, but I think so.
In short, Rush Limbaugh created a word in the ’90s that is now used as a wide-spread word for a “radical feminist.”Â
If you’re going to call us anything, sure, call us radical. Radical movements create radical change, and that’s exactly what we need when the wage gap between men and women still exists, transgender kids are losing their rights to use the bathroom of their choice, and sexual assault, domestic abuse, and rape toward women occurs at a rapid rate around the world.Â
I am a feminist, and some might call me radical when I ditch my bra for a day, attend anti-Trump events, or scream my frustrations from the mountain tops, but I am not a Nazi. I disdain everything Nazis stand for, and I can guarantee you, every feminist will agree with me on that point. Therefore, I demand that you quit calling me, and other feminists, Nazis. We aren’t down for mass murder. We never have been, never will be, and we’ll increase our rad-ness if you keep up the hate-mongering rhetoric.
I’m spilling these words onto paper to ask the world to quit using the word “feminazi.” Why would you compare a group of humans fighting for equality to the murdering political party, and some modern day supporters, of the Nazis?
I’m a feminist. My mother, grandmother, and some friends identify as feminists.
Amelia Bloomer was a feminist. Simone de Beauvoir was a feminist. Alice Paul was a feminist. Sojourner Truth was a feminist. Susan B. Anthony was a feminist. Elizabeth Stanton was a feminist. Emma Watson is a feminist. Shailene Woodley is a feminist. John Lennon was a feminist, and gentlemen, listen up – He thought all good men should be, too. Amy Poehler is a feminist. Ellen Page is a feminist. Beyonce is a feminist. Miley Cyrus is a feminist.
Personally, I wouldn’t think any of the inspiring, kind-hearted, loving, driven people listed above would enjoy being compared to a Nazi.
Feminazis do not exist simply because feminists are not Nazis. It’s quite literally that simple, and yet I’m typing this argument out in 2017. Drop the word, quit creating fear from a hateful rhetoric, and see feminists for what we truly are:
Human beings, of every color, age, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, etc. fighting for equality for all the people of the world. Feminazis are about as real as the Harry Potter world, and as much as you might wish it to be true, Rush, it will forever be fiction.
Here’s to all those fighting for equality on this Earth, may we know them, may we be them, and may we hold hands and fight the good fight together. Rush, as far as I’m concerned, the term ‘feminazi’ is as good as dead. Us feminists, though, we are here for the long haul.