I think feminism has always been global. I think there's feminism everywhere throughout the world. Jessica Valenti More Quotes by Jessica Valenti More Quotes From Jessica Valenti It used to be that if someone was to get involved in feminism, it was probably because they were already interested. They were already interested in feminism; they were already interested in being an activist, and they found their way to like a NOW meeting or to a consciousness-raising group or something like that. Jessica Valenti feminismgroupsway I don't find the wave model very productive, because I think it kind of serves to fan the flames of generational tension, or make it seem like there's more generational tension than there actually is. Jessica Valenti flamesfansthinking Whether people identify as feminists or not, if they're doing work that furthers a feminist cause, I think that's wonderful, like if it works for me, right, it works for the movement. Jessica Valenti feministpeoplethinking I do think that more people are feminists than they realize. Jessica Valenti feministpeoplethinking I'm really aware of how feminism and feminist rhetoric has been appropriated by the right. Jessica Valenti rhetoricfeminismfeminist If you're fighting to limit other women's rights, then you can't really call yourself a feminist. Jessica Valenti feministfightingrights I always go with the dictionary definition of feminism, which is just social, political and economic equality for women. Jessica Valenti feminismdefinitionspolitical I grew up definitely a feminist, but I didn't call myself a feminist until I took my first women's studies class in college. Jessica Valenti feministcollegeclass For a lot of women who don't go to college, or for a lot of women who aren't in New York or D.C. or someplace where there's like a large feminist organization they can get involved in, they may be doing feminist work, right, like locally or with a grassroots organization or in their own lives, but if they don't have that support system and if they don't have that availability to feminist language, I think we're missing out on something. Jessica Valenti collegenew-yorkthinking I think people resist feminism because they're scared. I think for women, they're scared of being picked on or of being called out. Jessica Valenti feminismpeoplethinking There's no benefit to saying that you're a feminist. But you do kind of get a nice patriarchal pat on the head if you say, oh, I'm not like that, like I'm not one of those crazy feminists, which is something that happens a lot, where young women or young men will express some sort of feminist ideal, will say, you know, I think it's crap that Wal-Mart won't give out emergency contraception, but I'm not one of those crazy feminists. Jessica Valenti crazynicemen I think the biggest hurdle American feminists have in terms of taking a more global approach is that too often when you hear American feminists talk about international feminism or women in other countries, it kind of goes along with this condescending point of view like we have to save the women of such-and-such country; we have to help them. Jessica Valenti viewscountrythinking If you go to places like YouTube, it's a cesspool, and a lot of the comments are really horrifying and misogynist and harassing. Jessica Valenti youtubecommentlike-you I do think that we have this incredible opportunity because being on-line - the Internet is a relatively new space - we do have this incredible opportunity to change that dynamic, to make sure that women are present in all sorts of spaces, not just women-only spaces. Jessica Valenti spaceopportunitythinking I think the idea that feminism is dead is dangerous because it leads women and men to believe that (1) they don't have to do anything; the work has been done, and that everything is okay now; and (2) it leaves them kind of alone, I think, in a struggle, and that's something I've seen a lot when I go to colleges and I speak to young women. Jessica Valenti collegestrugglebelieve The studies about differences between the sexes that you see kind of get propped up in the media are more often than not denigrating women in some way, saying that women really don't have any spatial understanding, and that's why they can't park. Jessica Valenti differencesmediasex Obviously Feministing is kind of a women's space in a certain way, even though we have a lot of male readership and people who don't identify as women. Jessica Valenti malesspacepeople I don't think that there's a guy behind the desk at every newspaper saying "No, woman" and sending her on her way, but that's what's systemic about it, right, like that people don't quite realize that maybe they're attracted to a male op-ed more than a female op-ed, or because of networking they know this person from going out to a bar with them. Jessica Valenti guypeoplethinking I hear from a lot of young women, you know, I don't want to call myself a feminist because I don't want to get in an argument with someone. And it's just not cool; like it's not a cool thing to be associated with. Jessica Valenti argumentfeministwant I think that we're our own worst enemies in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to doing work where you're criticized a lot or doing work where there's a lot of hater directed at you; and to not constantly second-guess yourself. Jessica Valenti worst-enemywaythinking
