Mr. John Scalzi explains, in considerable detail, why he does not call himself a feminist. Even though he is. He just doesn’t deserve to call himself one. But don’t think he cares what anyone thinks, because he doesn’t. And if you don’t believe him, he’ll write another 12 posts about himself just to prove you’re wrong.
I am a feminist in the most general sense of believing that women
are entitled to the same rights and privileges as men, with everything
that implies in terms of access to education, economic opportunity and
personal liberty. However, as far as I know most people don’t use the
term “feminism” in this most broad of definitions, either positively or
negatively. This is another reason I don’t tend to use the term to apply
to myself.A third reason I don’t apply the term feminist to
myself is that, again to be blunt about it, I don’t think I deserve to.
I know myself well enough to know where I fall down on the subject. On a
very superficial level, I’m wary of touting myself as a feminist and
then doing something that shows my ass on the subject in a very public
way. Best not to set myself up for such a fall.On a slightly deeper level, I know the personal journey I’m taking in
terms of my relationships with women, individually and generally. I’ve
always tried to be a good person to women in my life, and to women in
general, but there have been times I’ve fallen short of those goals,
through ignorance or through being (for lack of a better term) a dick. I
work at these things. I keep working at them.
Ye cats. This post was poorly titled. It should have been “Quick Notes on My Personal Effeminacy” or perhaps “Delving Into the Depths of My Navel: the Self-Portrait of a Gamma Male”. Anyhow, if John wants to call himself a feminist, he’s certainly got my permission. I don’t happen to call myself a feminist because feminism is the only ideology that is more intellectually incoherent than communism and more societally suicidal than the Skoptsy.
This is the best part: “I am delighted to annoy this category of status-anxious, woman-fearing moron.” The President of the SFWA calling anyone “status-anxious” and “woman-fearing” tends to strike one rather like Charles Manson saying that someone else is “a little out there”.