Personally, neither, I prefer "femi-nazi"

sigh.

What was up with the "India personified as a country" thing? There is a country called India ... ? Confusing. Also, has this writer read anything about India, or does she just have a vague idea based on white people's henna and Hinduism fetishes?

Later in the article she states:

"Whenever I do take the time to tap into "feminine-ism"—this energy of simply being by indulging in a meditative and self-nurturing manicure, a facial or a hot bubble bath—that's when I feel my most powerful." hahahahaha

I guess I'm a big burly feminist then.

Feminine-ist? That's not even a good word! Somehow I'm not too worried about this one catching on...

slow side to side headshake. crazy fucker.

Oh....is it not a known fact that all feminists are ugly? ..UGH.

I pray to Jesus this does not catch on, this is completely absurd.

Feminine-iem: Low calorie feminism that keeps you regular. Finally!

Articles like this make me angry because they are couched in a purported "feminism," or something that at first glance sounds like it. The prose of the author sounds like she's just trying to offering a subtle helping hand, to make all women feel their best. But really, she is just reinforcing stereotypes, both about women in general and about feminists, in a way that doesn't actually benefit anyone. It would have been less harmful to just have an article that says, "You probably work too hard. Have a manicure or take a walk; you might feel better" than to try to frame in it a way that claims to be an enlightened view on the roles of women in the world.

This is an article on the Oprah website, the website of one of the most powerful women in the world in many ways. And that pains me because it will probably reach a lot of people, and there's just so much wrong with it, so much that alienates so many different kinds of women. The fact that she takes the definitions of masculine and feminine as givens, presumes that her definition of femininity is the right and only one (and for the record that's what I think she's doing) alienates and insults anyone who defines it differently, or anyone who identifies as a woman, but not as feminine.

I want to articulate this better, but I'm at work and need to go back to doing that. For the record, in response to the title of the article "Are you a Feminist or a Feminine-ist?" I created an account on Oprah.com, logged in, and commented "I'm a feminist." It made me feel a little better.

I hate it when people don't know what a feminist looks like to take a catchy slogan off of a button.

Since when does feminist exclude the house-wife, the knitter, the crocheter, the doll-collector, the baker, and the woman in touch with her body? The only thing feminism means is that I want to be equal to my male coworkers and friends! I don't wanna be treated second-class for who I am.

Yes, perhaps we're vocal and that gets misconstrued as 'bitchy', but that doesn't mean we aren't also in touch with our feminine sides..... I can take care of my body and be girly and still be a feminist who wants to succeed in a male-dominated career!

She's right, though. I am overworked. And it's because I'm a feminist, yup. Not because I have to make money. If I weren't a feminist, I could just laze around by the pool all day and hope some man will pay my bills.

That article is just..., well..., dumb!

Sorry I can't come up with something more analytic, but I felt compelled to write some sort of response since I wasted the time reading the article.

BTW, I know plenty of non-feminists who are irritable, strident, etc. Why are these words still associated with feminists? And why are they over-associated with women? I meet plenty of men who fit this description!

Oh, and this is my favorite part:

"With the word "feminism," it might have been embarrassing for a man to say he was a supporter because it might sound like he was admitting to supporting of a group of controlling, bitchy women. But with new pro-sexiness, pro-sweetness, pro-balance words like "feminine-ist" and "feminine-ism," what's not for a man to love?"

Because, what good are women's rights if men are not pandered to?

A poor attempt at pointing out the problems with an aggressive, overly "masculine" culture, followed by trying to convince women they still need to look "pretty".

Not worth my anger.

All I want to know is how she defines "sexy" since she usues it practically every other freakin' word. Is this to mean the stereotypical media driven image of a "sexy" woman, looking good for men, cis gendered, thin, white, typically blonde? Because if it is then she can just kiss my ass. I hate the femiinie-ist (ugh, I hate that non-word) backlash of "it's okay to be sexy!" when generally they pretty much mean the general media portrayal of sexy. Which turns me right off because I do not fall under that stereotype at all. Why does being a woman ALWAYS have to be one specific thing? you don't have to be sexy AND powerful to be a feminist. You don't have to be ugly and powerful or sexy and not powerful. Every woman is her own thing and it just bugs the crap out of me when ANYONE (feminine-ists and feminists alike) tries to define being a "real" woman. Why can't you have an article that talks about powerful feminine women without having to write off and bash feminism? Is it that hard?

This article can bite me. And sorry if there are any misspellings. I went over it to check but my eyes are still blurry from my Lasik so I'm not too sure if I caught everything. But blurry vision or no this article just pissed me off way too much to not say something.

What kind of idiot sees the unjust, negative connotations associated with a word and decides to just change the word instead of working towards changing those negative connotations? Just sweep it under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist? Brilliant.

Gotta love the messages that the accompanying picture sends about what a feminine-ist is like.

Cutesy/childish bob haircut? check
Too-high table making a woman look like a girl? check
Licensed withdrawal (failure to make eye contact with the camera) showing subordinance to the viewer? check
feminine touch (touching her own face, often associated with subordinance and seuxality)? check

"The irony? Whenever I do take the time to tap into 'feminine-ism'—this energy of simply being by indulging in a meditative and self-nurturing manicure, a facial or a hot bubble bath—that's when I feel my most powerful." Facials and baths? It really IS ironic if you feel your "most powerful" while lying motionless and doing nothing. Check this out, I feel MY most powerful when I tap into the energy of simply being, by sleeping! Top THAT!

"Another good thing about bandying about words like 'feminine-ist' and 'feminine-ism'? Men can join in the bandying!" I guarantee you men are not going to start bandying those words about. No, no they're not.

Anyone else get the impression that feminine-ists are an exclusively white, upper-middle class bunch? I could add some more dimensions of privilege, too...

We did read (and comment on, of course) the entire thing over the weekend, and it just gets better as it goes - from the repeated insistence that feminists are ugly bitches, to the self-nurturing manicure as source of power, to the personified masculine and feminine countries, to the excitement over how feminine-ism is better because men will like it more.

"As a card-carrying "feminine-ist," I am here to tell you that feeling sexy is what helps me to be my most powerful and successful self, and being powerful and successful also helps me feel damn sexy!"

Why is the ultimate goal to always feel sexy? I feel like this is the problem in the first place. Once again, my worth is my ability to be look, feel, and act sexy. My worth isn't my intellect, humor, talent, or loving relationships. But if I'm constantly feeling pressured to feel sexy and you make me insecure then I'll buy your products or your sponsors products to learn how I can be sexy. Then I'll be enlightened and happy.

The reason I was drawn to feminism is because it says that traditional views of what is feminine and what is masculine aren't the only ways to express your gender. People do not fit in categories so easily. As female individual who has never been "feminine" I am irritated that Salmansohn thinks that I am not living up to my full potential. In fact I think a lot of people do not live up to their full potential because they are afraid some aspects of themselves would not be "manly" or "girly." It also irritates me that because I am not "feminine" there is this assumption that I frown upon anything that is. No, I just don't think traditional femininity is for me. I never felt comfortable in those roles. If you do, more power to you. But my anatomy does not dictate my personality, aspirations,etc.

I really also don't like the divisiveness in this. She pretty much saying "we aren't like THOSE mean, ugly, bitchy feminists over there." Nice. Isn't feminism about the rights of every human, not just the pretty feminine ones? I take pride in my tough persona and my non traditional attractiveness. And I don't think I'm a bitch because I stand up to someone who wrongs me. People aren't always nice to me, so why should I be all smiles and ribbons for them?

Seriously, bubble baths and facials are when I should feel at the top of my game? No, thanks.

I feel less intelligent for having read that.

Seriously, if people have issues with feminism, the logical answer is not to change the name, but to challenge existing notions of what feminism is and isn't.

I do not feel the need to get manicures to make myself more palatable to society.

This turns my stomach. Since I'm such a masochist I will open that link. I will keep ya'll updated

Tear my eyes out!!!

Now that I'm a registered Oprah.com user, feel free to post more articles like this so I can comment on them in a timely manner.
Thanks!

Also, the posts so far have pretty much covered it, but geez Louise, really? Someone was paid to write this crap?

Oh my gosh Karen Salmansohn of Oprah! Thank you so much for writing this article! I thought I had to choose between being feminine and attractive and being a feminist. Now all I have to do is to call myself a "feminine-ist". Of course, I'll sound like a bubblehead to anyone listening (try saying it out loud--it sounds like you're drunk).

I'll admit I only made it through half of this drivel. I lost it when she started stereotyping--uh--ooops, that's "personifying", yeah that's it---nationalities. But I have to wonder why she's so obsessed with the idea that one can't be strong and feminism. I mean, why can't you like, say--martial arts and also like flowery smelling bubble baths or whatever? It seems these anti-feminists are the ones who get stuck in this "either-or" mindset that must make their world narrower and blander. How sad.

Very very absurd. The only validity that I can see in it, if there's one at all, is one that I can only present with an example:
A friend of mine calls herself a feminist and she prides herself in having short hair, dressing blandly in drab-colored pants and shirts (ok, so she's a communist?? ha ha), not wearing any make-up, and not carrying around a purse. Her personal choices are hers of course, fine. And it's great that she's proud of them and non self-conscious of them. But she is always "pushing" short hair and no makeup on others. And for me it's kind of like, if I like my hair long and like to pretty myself up, and like to carry a purse, that's not okay? I mean there are certainly more important gender inequity issues than hair length and makeup! It's not like i'm doing something unhealthy like breast implants. These things are just superficial individual differences and such differences make for a more beautiful world. Isn't it more important that we do what makes us feel good about ourselves? And sometimes that might mean highlighting our best physical features.

Just my 2 cents....

i HATEEEEEEEEE when people who have no idea what feminism is (ie most likely have NEVER read any serious books on the matter) claim to be experts on feminism. dont write an authoritative piece on something u have no idea about. UGH!

Clearly she's still stuck thinking of feminine and masculine as two fundamental opposites. I've found this to be the basis of all patriarchal thinking. It's interesting that she's talking about people having both masculine and feminine sides, but ultimately making them into yin-yang is probably a barrier to achieving that 'balance'.

I like the idea of being feminine and yet also strong, successful, powerful. But the reason you can do this is because strength, success, and power don't have to be 'masculine' things, so there isn't any conflict at all if you abandon gendered thinking.

The part about feeling powerful from getting beauty treatments is the worst. It's just buying into the old idea that attractiveness is a woman's only source of power. People who do this and feel good about it don't feel so great because of achieving some feminine-masculine balance but:
1. Because they make it as relaxing as possible, because you're paying a ton of cash
2. Because for a brief little while you actually measure up to patriarchy's ideal women, up until the point that a cloud of dust/life/reality blows up and gets in your hair.

I own a really obscene amount of nail polish (to give myself "self-nurturing manicures," of course!) and I'm definitely not tough or strident. I wish someone had told me that I'm not a REAL feminist before I went and devoted so much time and energy to ending sexist oppression.

I really expected more from Oprah. Boo.

'But with new pro-sexiness, pro-sweetness, pro-balance words like "feminine-ist" and "feminine-ism," what's not for a man to love?'

*blink*

Because it's all about the men, right?

I have no desire to be 'sexy' or 'sweet' and I'm doing fine in being 'successful,' for my definition of success, which I can only imagine is considerably different from that of the author of this piece. And yet I'd consider myself a feminine woman. I just don't confuse my intuitive, nurturing personality with 'looking attractive for the men!'

Femininity reclaimed is power.
Self-objectification isn't.

"As a card-carrying "feminine-ist," I am here to tell you that ***feeling sexy is what helps me to be my most powerful and successful self****, and being powerful and successful also helps me feel damn sexy!" (**** mine)

hahahahahahhaaha. hilariously depressing.