What do feminists look like? You never know when you might need to spot one, so I thought I’d put together a handy guide to assist with recognition. We can be any gender, race, shape or size but never forget one very important thing: Feminists always dress in a practical way. A feminist’s heels are never too high. A feminist’s trousers are never too tight. A feminist is prepared to put up shelves, run for the bus, train an attack dog, defuse a bomb or start a protest march at any moment, so impractical clothing must never be worn. I repeat: NEVER! Also, feminists want everyone to be super-duper equal so they all wear gender-neutral clothing. That person wearing a skirt is NOT A FEMINIST. Do not be fooled by talk of pay gaps, rape culture and moving to Iceland because it’s a ‘feminist paradise’. A real feminist would show dedication to the cause merely by donning some sturdy footwear and an old pair of jeans.
These are the rules. Apparently.
Photo of me, dressed as a proper real-life feminist, by Matt Christie.
to aid with recognition, i wear a small purple pin-badge on my overcoat which simply states: 'feminist'.
🙂
What a great idea! The simplest ideas are often the best. This way, whatever you wear, people will always know 🙂
Do people sometimes look surprised to see a man wearing a feminist badge?
I am toying with a response blog post on my website.
However all it will contain is “How to spot an anti-feminist: He is a man”.
So not really much point 😉
It always amuses me that so many people assume you can't be a feminist if you're a man. I guess because those folk think that all feminists hate men. Makes me want to send them this photo… http://tinyurl.com/feministbill
Who made these rules? I think you can wear a skirt and still be a feminist. I think a feminist is a strong woman and she can dress in a feminine or gender neutral way.
hehe I have a similar photo 😉
I love pink and eyeliner and big boobs and glitter and twirly skirts and pretty shoes and baking yummy things but I am a feminist. Feminine and feminist can go hand in hand.
I haven't shaved my legs for a month though so maybe that evens it all out 😉
@Kimberlee – They are merely the rules as imagined by the general public. The classic stereotype of the bra-less man-hating hairy-legged feminist in her sensible shoes. I think we should try to smash those expectations wherever we can 🙂
@Melaina25 – I love all those things too. It confuses me when people start having arguments about whether or not baking is a feminist activity. You can be a feminist who bakes, but why would that make the act itself feminist? Hmm… I'm now pondering making cupcakes that have things like “equal pay!” iced on them.
Love the idea of “feminist” slogan cup cakes Lori 😉
I'm having a real inner-struggle with this subject at the moment so I was really quite relieved to read this post. It's good to know that somebody else feels/thinks along similar lines.
Sometimes, it feels like there is a bit of a 'feminist hierarchy' which makes me so uncomfortable & angry, actually.
Point scoring should not be on the feminist agenda – what ever 'kind' of feminist you happen to be.
I work with victims of domestic violence, which I'm guessing makes me a 'good' feminist, but I don't protest or get involved in activism, I dye my hair and love lashings of red lipstick – sometimes I just get the impression that *some* feminists look down upon that.
It's not on, really.
Thanks Lori…
@penandinked – I personally believe that there is room for lots of different types of feminists. We need the activists, but we also need the people who hold reasoned arguments rather than simply shouting “you're wrong”. We need the practical women who can do do anything men can do, but we also need the make-up-and-heels kind of feminist who makes others think again about their perceptions of feminism.
I went to a feminist book launch once and worried that no one would talk to me because I was wearing a dress and make-up. Thankfully, I was wrong 🙂