saving ink • Equalism, not Feminism

Equalism, not Feminism

For several years now, I’ve considered myself an equalist, not a feminist. I’m sure someone coined the term long before me, but nonetheless I considered it a personal philosophy, simply because to me it signifies in the simplest, most elegant way, the goal of the movement: complete gender equality.

The reasons for my preference for this term are manyfold, and yes, one of them is the negative connotation that the words “feminism” and “feminist” have developed over the years: namely, the one of the man-hating Amazon. Many would argue that it’s our duty to take back the word, to restore its original meaning. Maybe it is; but I see this argument over semantics as just one battle in a much larger war, and it’s the war that we should be focusing on.

More importantly, I find that the word “equalist” is more inclusive. I know many men who in action and thought follow the feminist philosophy, but for a variety of reasons would never call themselves feminists. In fact, the same goes for a lot of women, particularly those of my generation who never witnessed the pride and euphoria of first-wave feminism in the 70s.

And perhaps this is a generational thing: growing up in the 90s in the U.S., I took it for granted that I could do anything a boy could do, could grow up to be anything a man could be. Those initial battles had already been fought for me, and I couldn’t imagine that the gains would ever be taken away. In essence, equalism is just post-feminism, for those who never really experienced feminism in its initial struggles.

But equalism recognizes that the war is far from won. I could cite pay inequality statistics from all over the world, but we know these things already. But more alarming are the attitudes that have yet to be changed, that cling to the old, safe ways. It should be a given that both parents equally share child-rearing responsibilities, that neither parent is forced to give up a career; that men who choose to stay at home with their children are given equal respect and workplace rights as women who do the same; that our governing bodies reflect the populations they govern; that our women in combat are treated as equals, not as targets; that a single father is just as common as a single mother, and given the right resources and support, either could successfully raise a child; that no one, whether an employer, a co-worker or a stranger on the street, should judge me by my gender rather than by my abilities; that men and women are equal in all ways, and should be treated as such.

Yes, this is a revolution, but it is a slow one, an inevitable one. And the only way we’ll know it’s over is when we forget why we needed it in the first place; when we become post-equalists.