Originally published at Feminists for Choice, July 26, 2010.
Feminist Veteran Zoe Nicholson Explains Why Feminism Is Still Relevant
When did you first call yourself a feminist, and what helped influence that decision?
I have always been a feminist. The question is asked often these days, and I find it so peculiar. Would you ask a person of color if they believed in equality? Would you ask a trans person if they believe in LGBTQAI Civil Rights? I would rather ask why one would not want to be a feminist. I can think of only one legitimate reason, and it is because they are really stretching the boundaries of US thinking to drop all labels and make that their mission. (gender fluid!)
Did I ever think women or men were innately unequal? Never. Nor people of different races, ages or classes. Certainly my deeply devotional childhood influenced me. I look at the books I read, the saints I admired, and they were all people who worked with making life better; Mother Seton, Vincent DePaul, Catherine Laboure, even St. Nicholas and St. Valentine worked with the oppressed, the poor. It just seemed like the obvious choice. When I got older and found out that the word and meaning of Christian had been entirely co-opted, I converted to Buddhism. Funny thing is, it makes more sense to me to think of John XXIII, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem as all practitioners of Buddhism. They are all invested in Self-Discovery. (I digress)
What does feminism mean to you?
To me a feminist is a person who believes and behaves as if men and women are equal; equal under the law, and with full equal opportunity. What distinguishes my answer, I believe, is that it carries within it that the behavior is immediate; it does not wait for the laws to catch up. So, even though there is no Fair Paycheck Act, I would pay my employees equal pay for equal work, offer equal benefits and operate with no discrimination due to sex. In other words, as if there was an Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution.
You might find it interesting that about two years ago I changed my card from “Feminist” to “Equality Activist.” Because, who ya gonna leave behind? If I am going to be the change I see in the world, then I have to start with me. Since I am bi – I really get to speak to so many facets of equality. I was married to a man, had an abortion, fell in love with a woman, discovered I am bi. I am horrified at the terrible river of transphobia that ran through the feminism of the Twentieth Century. I am very motivated to expose it and get rid of it. Recently I was asked if I am a trans woman, and it really roared through me that somehow my answer was going to grant or deny some privilege. I refused to answer.
For the complete interview, click here (there’s a flattering shout-out to me at the end of the interview. Blush).
