Feminist Coming Out Week

By Anna V. Eskamani, Women's Caucus Chair

November 4th, 2011

We, the Florida College Democrats Women's Caucus, are proud to call ourselves feminists. But believe it or not, there are many individuals who are scared of the word feminist. Indeed, feminism has gone down in the books as being a dangerous “F-word,” one that promotes anti-men attitudes and rhetoric. Of course as rational beings of the progressive movement, we know better.

Feminism is defined as having three main waves. The first wave of feminism is characterized with the 1920 suffragettes. These women wanted de jure reform via a women’s right to vote, which was a victory won in 1920 with the 19th Amendment. Then came the second wave of feminism in the 1960s. Here de facto changes were pursued as feminists pushed for legislative reforms including the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

Though the second wave is still alive in many ways, the most recent wave of feminism is the third wave. The third wave found its beginnings in the 1990s, and is now seen as a multi-issued, multi-gendered, and multi-ethnic movement. Feminism has redefined itself as being a true movement for everyone. For sure we are defining feminism for ourselves in ways that past generations have never done before.

Despite today’s inclusivity of feminism, it has been meant with a huge backlash. Many see feminism as being both irrelevant and unnecessary. Some even see it as threatening. They argue that there’s no point for a women’s movement because apparently the fight is already over.

If the fight was really over, then why would we feel the need to keep fighting? To these naysayers of feminism, we continue to stand loud and proud united as one. This is why College Democrats from across the Sunshine state are coming together to celebrate what we call, Feminist Coming Out Week. At UCF, students tabled with a sign that read “This is what a feminist looks like” and had members take photos with it. In FIU, similar photos were taken but their sign defined from their perspective what it meant to be a feminist.

We are proud to be feminists and we hope you are too. Send in your photo to womenscuacus@flcollegedems.com and we'll upload it to our Facebook. Be loud, and be proud.