How can you tell if someone is a feminist? What do they look like? I like to think I’m a hard-core feminist. I’m 5’8 with light brown hair and my feet are a size ten. Do I look like a feminist? I don’t know.
You might have seen someone wearing a shirt that says, “This is what a feminist looks like.” I like to wear mine on occasion, even though it’s pretty faded. The first time I started really noticing these shirts was fall of my third year in college (I was a late bloomer.) I didn’t really understand what the shirt meant. I would think, what do you mean, “This is what a feminist looks like?” Everyone I see wearing these shirts looks completely different! Which I soon realized was, in my own opinion, kind of the point.
You can’t tell what a feminist looks like. A tall person in a short skirt and high heels might be a feminist. A woman with hairy legs and 20-inch biceps might be a feminist. An NFL football player might be a feminist. We don’t know what a feminist looks like. It’s kind of the same old story. You can’t label people.
If you don’t own the shirt, don’t get sad. You can still be a feminist. Feminism isn’t about wearing a shirt or looking a certain way. It’s about believing in equality. To me, it’s the lens through which I view the world. What does feminism mean to you? Would you wear a shirt that says you’re a feminist?
Check out this video by The Feminist Majority Foundation. (If the link doesn’t work, just type “this is what a feminist looks like” into Youtube.) You might hate it, or you might love it. I think it’s worth thinking about.