I’ve had a bit of a complicated relationship with the term “feminist.” Growing up, it was not a term I saw positively. More often, I associated it more with radicalized political beliefs than philosophical ones. In the past several years, however, I have come to see the term differently – mostly as a result of my own lived experience as a woman.

It’s no secret that postmodern feminism, in its current “wave,” is rife with problems. In many places, the feminist movement is considered synonymous with advocacy for abortion or progressive gender ideologies – two things I vehemently oppose. Feminism can also all too easily become vicious towards men, another pitfall I reject and find antithetical to feminism’s true purpose.

Considering these points, the current movement of “anti-feminism” is quite understandable and makes important contributions to an authentic understanding of women. But, as I have grown in my own experiences of work and study, I have found that the anti-feminist conclusion (whether implicitly or explicitly) goes too far. The idea that feminism should be rejected wholesale, and that its current problems are inherent to it, is simply unproductive. Rather, I find myself agreeing with writers and scholars who argue that feminism’s issues arise when it becomes a false religion – an ideology separate from one grounded in an understanding of God’s design for the human person.

True feminism

I think Pope John Paul II best summarizes where I find myself with feminism, and why I don’t think it can be outright rejected. First, in his Letter to Women, he recognizes the social and historical difficulties women have faced and the need for progress:

I think that this “impoverishment of humanity” is what feminism in the West initially set out to address, such as in the work of Mary Wollstonecraft. Society flourishes when both men and women are flourishing, and I think historically, women have not always had the freedom to do so; such as in academia, the workplace, or the public square. However, when that comes at a cost to the other members of society – such as we find in modern radical feminism’s advocacy for abortion – the flourishing is not real. It instead becomes predatory and a detriment to a healthy society.

A movement in need of reform

John Paul II also wrote in Evangelium Vitae – widely considered to be his most important encyclical – that modern women are given a massive responsibility in reforming feminism:

Quite simply, my long winding road in regard to feminism arrived at the point underscored by the quote above. I think it is more effective to try to restore feminism from within than defeat it from without. I think there are more truths within feminism than falsehoods, and that if those truths are cultivated and ordered through thoughtful discourse, scholarship, and social change, feminism can do what it set out to do: “acknowledge and affirm the true genius of women in every aspect of life and society.” Though some early feminists, such as Wollstonecraft and others in her vein, do not completely encompass what a truly moral feminism could look like, I believe the foundations of their work are in alignment with the “new feminism” that must come about. 

To me, Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) has one of the best articulations of what a feminism that honors sex difference, yet upholds the flourishing of both men and women looks like. If we react to disordered parts of feminism by swinging the pendulum back to all societal ideals before it existed, I think we’ll continue in a theoretical war where neither side truly wins. To me, diving into feminism and finding the vein of truth—and subsequently, calling out the places where it falls short—is necessary to avoid this.

A weighted word: Feminism

It’s safe to say that the discussion surrounding feminism gets quickly charged with moral and social weight. In my own social life and career, I associate with circles where the term “feminist” is used as a compliment, and others where it is used as an insult – all under the umbrella of the same faith and moral values. 

I don’t necessarily think there is a “right” moral side to the equation right now – hence why feminism can never be a religion. There is good in both approaches of trying to reform feminism from within, and trying to defeat it from without – each woman can decide for herself what she thinks is the most reasonable and effective path, and both sides of the discussion would do well to learn from one another and try their best to unite.

Time to unite

Scholars and activists from both sides of the discourse can perhaps agree upon a working definition of feminism, so as to figure out what task we’re really up against, whatever we choose. I know my choice, as of now, is to confidently call myself a feminist – among and beneath many other important things – in hopes that the term will one day embody its full potential.

If you’re interested in reading more about a “new feminism” that’s grounded in deeper realities, I’d recommend the following sources:

Feminism Against Progress by Mary Harrington

The Rights of Women: Reclaiming a Lost Vision by Erika Bachiochi 

The Genesis of Gender by Abigail Favale

“On the Separate Vocations of Man and Woman According to Nature and Grace” in Essays on Woman by Edith Stein

EDITOR’S NOTE: Want to hear another point of view? Check out “Why I don’t call myself a feminist.”