The survey is still open, if you haven’t filled it out yet. I’ll update the results in this post if they change.
As of right now, 27 people completed the survey. Of those 27 people, 25 (93%) identify as feminists, while 2 people are unsure.
7 people (28%) said their definition of feminism matched the 1895 definition: “Advocacy for the rights of women.” 6 other people chose Adrienne Rich’s definition, which was “Recognition of the inadequacy for us, the distortion of male-created ideologies, and that we proceed to think, and act, out of that recognition.” 3 people said the 1863 definition “Advocacy of or enthusiasm for the rights, achievements, etc. of women” matched their definition. 11 people selected “other”, but of these 9 people, 3 said “feminism is the radical notion that women are people”, the bumper sticker of which none of us seem to know the origin. 1 person said “the idea that gender/sex is pretty much irrelevant in most aspects” which I kind of like, and another person wrote similarly “feminism as I see it is a way of crossing the borderlands of gender through peaceful means.” Still another person wrote in: “Feminism is an honoring and respecting of the rights and abilities of women in all their aspects and ages, and therefore, of people.” Another 2 people equated feminism with equality, and 2 people said “all of the above.” One person wrote in “women being respected as human beings, who can solve problems and participate in everything-culture, art, literature, politics, trade-unionism-a liberation that means our opinion is respected at home and outside the home.”
13 out of 27 people (48%) said poverty and economic issues were the biggest issues facing women today. 2 people said restrictions on our sexual freedom, 2 said violence, while 1 only person each chose racism and 1 person said objectification in the media. 9 people marked “other” and of these 4 people essentially chose “all of the above.” 1 person wrote in “violence by the state”, another person wrote “hidden prejudice”, and someone else wrote in “dehumanization by culture, society, men and self.”
In terms of feminist writers, 7 out of 27 people (30%) chose bell hooks to best represent their philosophy. Only 1 person each chose Betty Friedan, Audre Lorde, Susie Bright, Susan Faludi, and Gloria Steinem. Four people offered five people I hadn’t included as choices:The French feminist Luce Irigaray, Alice Walker, Emma Goldman, Marge Piercy, and Adrienne Rich. One person said their mother, another listed a bunch of people I’ve never heard of and essentially said they admire “ordinary” people over theorists. Four people said they didn’t read enough feminist theory to know.
As for the final question, I am going to post people’s thoughts on feminism in their own words in a separate post, because I got some really cool responses, and think they deserve that attention.
