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Why Is “Feminist” So Unpopular With Women When Nearly All Want Equality?
Only 19% of U.S. women think “feminist” describes them very well, and nearly half of that 19% think feminism is polarizing and not inclusive. That information is buried in a misleadingly titled article about a 2020 Pew poll, “61% of U.S. women say ‘feminist’ describes them well; many see feminism as empowering, polarizing”. The writer got 61% by adding the 19% who think the word describes them very well to the 42% who say “feminist” describes them fairly well. But she doesn’t answer a basic question: Why do so few women identify as feminists? Why do 81% think the word does not describe them very well?
In 2019, a National Geographic/Ipso poll found Less than a third of American women identify as feminists. Yet we know
a majority of Democrats and Republicans — whether they identify as feminists or not — say it is very important for women to have equal rights with men. Similarly, majorities in both partisan coalitions support adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Part of the problem is many feminists talk as if there’s only one feminism. There are many. The divide between working class and upper class feminists goes back to the 19th century when Eleanor Marx noted “there is the exploiter woman of the middle class and the exploited woman of the working…
