The F-word

On the telegraph.co.uk, in an article about new fashion line Ohne Titel, I read the line: "It's been the best part of 10 years since I've heard young women in fashion use the F-word. Feminism is so taboo to girly sensibilities that it is almost an obscenity."

That touches a particularly raw nerve with me, one that has always driven me slightly barmy. I have long held that the contention of many young women that they are not feminists is a particularly offensive one, particularly when uttered with pursed lip and an air of contempt, as though the very idea of 'feminism' is distasteful, and in some way not feminine, or worse still, that it may imply that one is a 'crazy' rabid bra-burner who takes offense at the idea of having doors opened for one or chairs pulled out for you by a solicitous man.

To all this is say: pish tosh.

To every girl who expects to be afforded the same education, job and other opportunites and rights as men: I'm sorry to have to be the one to break this to you, you are a feminist.
If you expect to be able to do every thing that a man would do, as well you should: You are a feminist.

Those 'crazy' militant bra-burners did what they had to do, at a time when nothing short of shock tactics would have sufficed, to pave the way for the rights that you now deem your birthright.
If those 'crazy' suffragettes hadn't cycled around in their bloomers, I can assure you, you probably wouldn't be sitting in your office/university library/bachelorette pad scrolling through this blog, with money to burn, sexual freedom and reproductive choice.

Feminism doesn't imply a rejection of men, or indeed, of a girly aesthetic.
You can shave your legs, dress in pink, loll in silk sheets, wear lipstick and be pleased when your boyfriend takes you out to dinner without betraying the feminism principle; it just implies not taking these rights for granted, and remembering that there were women who gave you this choice.