How do you position yourself in relation to feminist movement? What does the term “feminism” mean to you? Is feminist movement necessary? Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?
I think that the feminist movement is most definitely still necessary, and that there is no question about this necessity. While there’s been significant progress in fighting for gender equality, evidenced by LeGuin’s “What It Was Like”, there is still so much more that we have to do to ensure that what we’ve fought for currently will stay and to still close the gaps on persisting issues such as wage inequity. Particularly in the political environment that exists today, there is even more of a need for activism — for feminists, especially. To me, what feminism is is advocating for equal rights between genders (when it currently just so happens that women have less rights than men), and I would most definitely align myself as a feminist. I do think that for those who identify themselves as feminist and don’t necessarily take a lot or any action, there is more that they can do — myself included. The very first step, however, I believe is to educate more people about the aforementioned definition of feminism so as to further reduce the heavy stigma surrounding the very idea of what it means to be “feminist”, and only then will we able to achieve more progress after a stagnated period of time. It should no longer be a word that is associated with solely women, for men can be feminists too. In addition to that, I think what’s vital is that we clarify the fact that the feminist movement must also embrace intersectionality, something that I think may be lost in translation for some people.