A Quiz on Feminism

            

What type of feminist (or anti-feminist) are you?  

               What does it mean to be a feminist? According to Gendered Voices, Feminist Visions, there are many definitions and disagreements regarding certain aspects but there are two core principals that are agreed upon. The first principle is feminism concerns equality and justice while the second is inclusive and affirming of women across the differences. The chapter further explains that, "Feminism is a personal perspective as well as a political theory and social movement that has worked as a central force in advocating women's rights and making room for other liberatory possibilities" (p. 12). 

               As a child, the basic definition I was taught about being a feminist was someone who supported equal rights for women. This didn't feel like it was too much to ask for. The older I got, the more I listen to conversations within my household, school, and friend groups, and came to realize that everyone had a different point of view of what it meant to be a feminist and everyone had their own views and concerns. There are many other fields in which feminist throw themselves into such as abortions, voting rights, sexual harassments, domestic violence, equal pay, eating disorders, just to name a few.

               In the case of my family, abortion has been a heavy topic for several years. My parents raised two daughters, have one sister, and are grandparents to four girls under 10. My mom had my sister at 17 but this was only after she ran away from an abortion clinic my grandmother brought her too. This was a difficult decision for my mom to face but while she chose to have my sister and be a single parent, she acknowledges that while this was the right decision for her, it would not be for other young mothers. A few years after she met my dad, had my older brother and then me. It would take several years for my grandmother to apologize to my mother for trying to force an abortion on her.

               The older I got, the more I learned of my mom's story and could see why she could understand other women choosing to have an abortion as some women are not ready for the responsibility of parenthood. She found it inexcusable for people to enforce laws about a woman's body and choice, especially when they are not a woman themselves. While I have my mom, sister, and aunts that share the same belief, I have a godmother who believes in the exact opposite. She was raised to see abortion as something cruel and unethical and should never be allowed for any cases. I know the topic has been brought up during past family gatherings and I've witnessed my dad holding back his tongue out of respect to my godfather, his cousin, but it's clear to see how different women who identify as feminist could have opposing views. 

               Everyone has their reasons for their beliefs and while online quizzes are nothing new, there was one that I feel gives viewers a better insight. What type of feminist (or anti-feminist) are you? is a quiz which was done by the Washington Post Staff in 2016. I came across this quiz during my WST 3015 course and spread it to other friends and family members, getting relatively the same group but not all of us. The quiz is perhaps the simplest quiz I have taken as it only contains seven multiple choice questions but what I find the most appealing is once you're done, you'll be placed into one of the six categories and each category comes with a short video with people who also got the same results. 

              Once you have done that, you are free to look at the other videos from the other categories and see why other test takers were placed in the categories they were in. It allows all users to see a different perspective, even if they completely disagree with it or get further insight in the group they were placed in. When I gave the quiz to my mom and my best friend, we were all placed in the "Hell, yeah" feminists group which meant we were placed in a group that has the most passionate views toward the feminist movement. We reviewed our answers and discovered that we did answer a few questions differently before playing the videos to learn more about the other five categories. I can't say I wasn't a little bit upset when hearing the group that completely disagreed with everything we believed in but the fact that the quiz allows you to view other people's view is a special feature I've never seen in past quizzes. This quiz is something I strongly encourage other people to take and if you wish, feel free to comment what category you were placed in. 

References

Shaw, S. M., & Lee, J. (2020). Chapter 1 Women's and Gender's Studies Perspectives and 

    Practices. In  Gendered Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings (7th 

    ed., pp. 1– 40). essay, Oxford University Press.

Washington Post Staff. (2016, January 21). What type of feminist (or anti-feminist) are you? The 

    Washington Post. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/feminism-project/feminism-typology-quiz/