Up For Discussion: Are you a feminist?

We all heard the excerpt of novelist Chimamanda Ngozi’s speech sampled in Beyonce’s song “Flawless.” She defined feminist as “a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.”

Although this definition and clean, crisp, and to the point, many women still seem to be hesitant to identify themselves as a feminist. There are many misconceptions and negative connotations that can be associated with the title. The snap judgment of a feminist is typically a woman who is scorned, lonely, bitter, can’t find a man or doesn’t want one and she may or may not wear a bra and/or shave her armpits.

For obvious reasons many of us would rather be identified as a “girl boss,” “female baller,” or even a “boss a$$ b****” rather than be attached to the unflattering idea of feminism. But with women’s rights being in the forefront of recent elections, viral videos bringing attention to the demeaning nature of catcalling, and the topic of rape culture slowly becoming more of an open discussion, you may just be a modern day feminist and not even know it. Not to mention female owned businesses are rising at a crazy impressive rate and the concept of grindin to buy yourself that bag, those shoes, and that new whip fresh off the lot is highly honored these days.

So what’s your definition of a feminist? Is being a girl boss/female baller/boss a$$ b**** the same thing? Do you consider yourself a feminist? Can you be a feminist and still allow a man to pay for dates, etc.? Why or why not?