Title: Why Don't More People Call Themselves Feminists?
Headings: Why Don't More People Call Themselves Feminists?
Why Don't More People Call Themselves Feminists?
It's 2014, and lots of women (and men) are still wary of embracing the term.

Content: American women are strongly socialized to be people-pleasers, to put work into being pretty, to be nice and likable and, especially, appealing to men. The many traditionalists who oppose feminist values, including equality in the home and at work, have been particularly savvy in exploiting that desire to be attractive and agreeable by casting feminists as the opposite. [embed_gallery gid=4096 type="simple"]
There are also women who reject the term "feminist" because they feel the term rejects them. While the word "feminist" purports to represent women's interests, various factions of the feminist movement have at times marginalized or outright attacked particular groups. Some suffragists, for example, opposed racial equality laws; feminist anti-lynching journalist Ida B. Wells not only challenged their stance but also brought lynching and the sexual violence of white men against black women into the national conversation. The second-wave feminists have been sharply criticized for prioritizing the interests of white, middle class women; writer Alice Walker coined the term " womanism " as a feminist theory intended to represent the ways in which feminists of color live in the intersections of sexism and racism. In 1969, National Organization of Women president Betty Friedan lamented the "lavender menace" of lesbians infiltrating the women's movement and marginalizing it from the mainstream political discourse; queer women and their allies split off to agitate for women's rights regardless of sexual orientation.