Defining Feminism
Author:
Sophie Cooksey ’25Co-Authors:
Faculty Mentor(s):
Adam Burgos, PhilosophyFunding Source:
Presidential FellowsAbstract
Who gets to decide what is “feminist” and what is not? How would the world look if the word “feminist” wasn’t so stigmatized? Does feminism even matter? These are all questions that will be pondered in this presentation by comparing feminists of the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist group from the late 1960s and early 1970s to the modern conservative feminist movement, two starkly different groups in ideology and time period. In this presentation, I will examine how it is that these differences shape ideologically different definitions of feminism. I will also argue that in order to understand feminism and all of its intricacies, we must first be able to establish a definition of feminism that most people can agree with. In this comparative presentation, I will provide some history of the Young Lords, introduce the modern-day conservative feminist movement, and use these comparisons to draw up some potential answers to the longstanding and pressing question of what feminism ought to mean. Comparing women’s issues in the 1970s with women’s issues in the 2020s along with comparing the motivations of particular women from different time periods are integral components in answering these questions. In this presentation, I hope to be able to draw out a definition of feminism that is best for all women, not just women who find themselves at the intersections of privilege.