Don't Call Kelly Clarkson the F-Word

Feminist, that is.

I'll admit, I really don't get women who don't identify as feminists. However, the problem isn't that Clarkson doesn't "at all" consider herself a feminist. It's that she expresses feminist sentiments in interviews, then utterly recoils when asked if she identifies as a feminist. I don't think she really gets what the word means.

In a recent interview, Clarkson was asked whether she thought the record industry was a boy's club and told an anecdote about a conference call with record industry execs:

I was actually on a phone call with two people who did not know I was on the phone, and I literally heard somebody I used to work with say, "Well, you know what, he can get away with it because it’s a guy. She’s a girl, so let’s just face it, it’s different.” And I was like, "Is this the 1950s?" I hung up and didn’t listen to the rest. I’m like,“I don’t get it."

However, when asked whether she considered herself a feminist, Clarkson demurred.

No, not at all. I mean, that was the first time in my life -- which maybe I’m naive and I’ve not been put in any situations like that -- but that’s the first time in my life I’ve ever even heard someone use that mentality. I'm like, "Hey, knock-knock, 2008.” Most of the men in my life have been very highly supportive. I’ve never had to even think like a feminist because no one around me even thinks one [sex] is higher than the other. [emphasis mine]

Well, that's really lucky for you, Kel, but maybe you didn't know that we only just passed legislation to enforce fair pay for women? Hey, knock-knock, 2009! And I'm sure you also wouldn't know anything about how women are held to impossible standards of beauty that aren't imposed on men? Not that those standards have ever affected you or anything, right?

See, here's what I think is going on. Women in their 20s and 30s have been fed a big stereotype about feminists and feminism. We all hate men and babies, we're ugly and couldn't get a man anyway, we don't shave, we're bitches. And rather than seeing these assertions for their inherent misogyny and dismissing them, many women bristle and say, "oh, GOD, that's not me!" and treat feminism like a dirty word. So I looked up the meaning of feminism just to make sure I wasn't misled, and here's what I read:

fem·i·nism

Pronunciation: \ˈfe-mə-ˌni-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1895  
1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes
2 : organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't want anyone to think I'm into anything radical like that.

Kelly, when gossip rags talk about your weight and assert you must be a lesbian because you ain't got no mans, it stems from a mentality that it's okay to say this shit about you because you're a woman. When Elle Magazine photoshops you down to a size 2 shadow of yourself, it's because women are expected to fit into one body type. When you heard that person on the call say something is okay for a man to do but not a woman, it's a testament to the fact that we don't live in a post-sexist society and that feminism still matters.

If you believe in equal rights, voice, and representation for women, honey, you're a feminist. It doesn't mean you have to go eat fetuses in front of churches or burn your bra (which, by the way, never happened — look it up). It does mean that you say things like this when record execs treat you like you're second class:

“I’ve sold more than 15 million records worldwide, and still nobody listens to what I have to say. Because I’m 25 and a woman.”

“I am a good singer, so I can’t possibly be a good writer. Women can’t possibly be good at two things. I haven’t lost my temper about it. It only drives me more. If your thing is to bring me down, cool. I’ll just work harder.

Sorry, Kelly. That sounds like pure feminist to me. Don't worry — it's going to be okay. We promise, you can still wear a bra if you want.

 

via Feministing

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Comments

[Hilary]

It makes me so sad that some women recoil at the word.It's a great word! It's so often wrongly defined as "man-hate" to which I always respond with something about how the word FEMINISM says NOTHING about men. It's our gig. It would be BADASS if Kelly C. would be like, 'OF COURSE I am a feminist!' I might buy her record in that case.

[lori]

I agree with the principles espoused by the feminist movement but I've known way too many militant, radical, hateful "feminists" to ever want that label applied to me. It has nothing to do with how men view them. If that makes me, a woman, misogynistic, then I guess that's another label to slap on.

I prefer to just have my views and be me rather than be a set label. I'm fairly conservative in many of my views but i'm not Conservative. I'm liberal in many of my views too but i'm not Liberal. i'm just me.

Maybe Kelly wasn't thinking it through or maybe she really doesn't see herself as a feminist. Either way, she shouldn't get called out for not wanting to call herself a specific label. Should she?

[Liana]

I agree that the pure definition of feminism is something that many of us agree with (including me!) and is nothing that should be seen as negative ...but I also agree with Lori. Certain labels carry with them a truckload of connotations and stereotypes. I totally believe myself to be a feminist but I wouldn't say that unless I had time explain my own views and what feminism actually is. When an interviewer is just looking for a sound byte, I can see why Kelly might shy away from labeling herself.
And of course she also simply may not know what feminism truly means.

[norm]

This is just the triumph of right-wing redneckery. She'd also recoil at the label "liberal" as well.

[Moo]

I'm with Lori.

[Maxine Dangerous]

Sigh. Kelly, Kelly, Kelly...

[deirdre]

I too tend to have a negative reaction to the word "feminist." Most of the people I've met who have gone out of their way to identify themselves as "feminist" have also turned out to be collossal jackholes. Some were just raving mad.

It's like any measure of empowement -- the crazy ones go apeshit crazy while the sane ones distance themselves from the crazies.

Besides, when you look at the definition, it's so broad that it doesn't really mean anything.

The first definition talks about social, political, and economic equality, but the acutal definitions of social, political,and economic equality can run the gamet from socially conservative ideologies to far left liberal ideologies. Are all those people feminists?

By the second definition, the Miss America pagent and Cosmo are feminist activities.

Most of the men and women I know are people who go about their business every day in an honest, caring, and genuinely-concerned-for-the-welfare-of-mankind way. I want to be whatever those people are calling themselves. Decent human beings?

[Robyn G]

Look, Amber had some great points, and had me nodding along a bit and saying, "I don't agree with it all, but ok". Then Lori spoke up and I said, "Yeah!" and then Deirdre spoke up and said exactly what I wished I had.

I love this place.

[Sils]

I had a friend like this in college, she heard the word "feminist" and heard the word "femi-nazi" instead. She was totally aghast when I called myself a feminist, she thought it meant I hated men - which couldn't be farther from the truth. Crazy madness. I'm proud that I am a feminist, and so is my feminist boyfriend (who was raised by a single mom with two older sisters and all female pets).

[Kristen]

Here's to even it out:

I'm a 20-something feminist. So, we're not all mislead in that regard. My husband's a 20-something feminist, too.

Though, I am ASTOUNDED by how many of my peers need a quick debriefing on what exactly a feminist means. I think a lot of the misunderstanding has to do with the fact that feminism is less of a visible protest presently, and so the few feminists that one can identify in public are more extreme (more man-hating?) than with previous generations.

Thoughts?

[Moo]

Decent human being.....I like it!

[Kara]

I blame Rush and his sound bite fueled rhetoric of hate toward everybody except obese, bigoted prescription drug addicts. I am the product of a women's college and a single, feminist mother.

I'm not a feminist; I'm a humanist. Or Decent Human Being- take your pick.

I am more offended by the way the work Liberal has been turned into a venomous slur, frankly.