Should Feminism Rebrand Itself for a Wider Audience?

It has been suggested that feminism, as we know and understand it, should rebrand itself because the brand of the movement, not the message, is turning people off and away from the realities of the feminist fight. 

Therefore, I find myself asking whether feminism should rebrand itself to appease those who dislike the brand so it can appeal to a wider audience.  And I find myself answering no.  Feminism should not need to rebrand itself to be duly accepted by the mainstream.  Feminism should be a movement with a name that continues to be unapologetic in its demand for attaining equal rights, the advancement of women and marginalised groups in society, and the restructuring of patriarchal demands.

In short, no.  Feminism should not rebrand itself.

Feminism does not exist to 'appeal' to people.  It exists to fight for women's rights.  If people say they won't listen to people who call themselves feminists, then they're not listening to what women need at all - they're making a power play, to force us into a position of compromise and submission before even giving us the time of day to listen to our problems. I'm not willing to join a fight for 'women's rights... with some compromises'.  I'm a feminist because I stand up for women's rights, full stop.

People nowadays want a mild, "reasonable" brand of feminism, so they can jump on the bandwagon and call themselves progressive.  Did the American Civil Rights movement 'cater' to what white people wanted?  Did they just ask politely for people to join them and give them their rights?  No, it was a fight, and a brutal one at that.  People want feminists and activists to step down and compromise, to present to them a washed-out version of feminism that they can easily agree to, so they don't actually have to change anything in their lives at all, and can still say they 'support equality'.  I’m sorry to break it to you, but that is not equality.

If people are not listening, they are not on feminism's side.  If people are so obsessed with the name, then they're clearly not listening to anything behind it.  I have yet to meet a single person who said, "I think the word feminism has become polluted by negative connotations because of man-haters, so I only listen to 'gender equalists', not feminists", who actually had a good, helpful view of the messages behind feminism / gender equality.

Frankly, I think it's a bit self-involved to think that a movement that seeks to further the rights of women should make it main objective to appeal to men.  In fact, I find this notion rather abhorrent.  Feminism is about equality (amongst other things), but more importantly about the liberation of women from patriarchal oppression.  Oftentimes the people suggesting that feminism needs to be rebranded and revamped are those with patriarchal male privilege: the white middle-upper class heterosexual males who are not the main audience of feminism.  Women, ethnic minorities, working classes, and transgendered individuals tend to find life harder than those who experience male privilege.  Exploitation, oppression, scapegoating, misdirected rage, harassment, and abuse are amongst some of the things these groups experience on a regular basis.  Women, minorities, non-binary and gender non-conforming people are systematically disadvantaged.  Those within the parameters of male privilege rarely experience these things themselves (although some do).  Of course there are men who suffer under patriarchy as a result of hyper-masculinity and heteronormativity, but if any movement is seeking to help combat the prevalence of such stereotypes, it is feminism. 

Black Feminists, for example, have argued that issues of power and power-relations are based on exploitation and oppression from one group of elites, whom have historically been white middle-class men, identifying race, as well as gender, as a source of power struggles.  It has been posited by Francois-Cerrah (2015), that “the term “white people” doesn’t refer to the colour of people’s skin as much as it refers to people’s identification with the dominant power relations which continue to subjugate people of colour to a second class status and relegates women of colour specifically to the bottom of the heap”.  Therefore, modern-day forms of feminism have stressed the importance of giving different voices and life experiences a social and political presence, thus rejecting singular liberal-humanist subjectivities.  Arguably, feminism has not rebranded itself, but is growing and adapting.  Feminism today is questioning the status, power and descriptive nature of metanarratives, producing a discursive shift which has created a space for voices previously marginalised and silenced, allowing new interpretations and discussions of societal dynamics to be heard.

However, if people cannot see past the negative connotations mainly reinforced by misogynists, or currently meninists, and patriarchy to give feminism a bad name, then they are not making any real effort to engage with the plentiful literature which documents feminism’s attempts to challenge these prominent structures in which we are all trapped. 

And honestly, feminism is not perfect.  But many branches are trying to improve the status of individuals.  Yes, there are things that are bad about parts of the feminist movement.  At times it can be heteronormative, trans-exclusionary, Eurocentric and devalue / ignore the voices of black women.  Yet it not being palatable enough to some men / the wider audience is not the pressing issue.  Sometimes feminism will make men uncomfortable!  That's the point!  It challenges male privilege!  If people are going to be so obtuse and force feminists to centre important discussion spaces on men then they can stay out the movement because clearly they are not ready to comprehend the pressing issues at hand which concern the safety and value of various groups and individuals.

Feminism is a humanitarian issue and it needs to be taken seriously so we can transform this socially constructed and hierarchical ideology.  Therefore, it does not need to be rebranded.  People need to think.  They need to explore, and they need to learn.  They need to comprehend that there is not one feminism, but a multiplicity of feminisms.  They need to come to terms with the truth of feminism, and realise that there are various branches, but the general message is the same: equality for all.