It’s not a substitute. It is surely complementary, but it does not address the specific laws, rights and social constructs that are gendered in their application. No more than humanism specifically addresses gay rights, or animal rights any of the ‘rights’ that other groups are dedicated to. No-one says “Oh you can’t be a gay rights activist because that means you want privilege over heteros and therefore you are biased. You want to take things away from straight people.”

So that made sense to me, so I realised I am a feminist and support the movement, however because of all the baggage associated, I feel the need to be covert. It’s strategy! It’s like playing poker maybe. You can announce you were dealt a Royal Flush and that this means you’ll win, but good luck getting anyone to raise their bets! Was that a dumb analogy? Maybe I should have kept it to shoes or something I really understand.

In terms of the pros and cons of embracing the word, whether or not it should be ruined by people who take it too far is beside the point. It has been tainted, so I feel like there’s no point bandying a word around to make my point and risk being misunderstood. I’d rather speak about things in more details without being dismissed because I was too preoccupied with embracing a word. I don’t really give a shit about owning a word, I care about making progress in various ways so I’d rather speak to these issues point by point than try to sum everything up and risk alienation by insisting on using the potentially divisive word of “feminist”.

Have either of you seen Cabin in the Woods? If you’re a horror fan it’s a must see – but make sure no one spoils it for you! It’s one of those movies where the less you know going in the more you enjoy it. That movie took tired old horror tropes and did something completely original with it. Its an all time favourite of mine!