Erykah Badu in The Guardian:
"I don't see myself as feminist, I see myself as humanist. I try to be as honest as I can and encourage that quality in my art. The things that people feel, the things people connect with, that is true honesty in art. I encourage all women to be honest. I consider myself a spiritual being first, a human being second, a woman third, and fourth is pretty ... or ugly!"
I'll admit, I groaned a little when I saw the headline: "Erykah Badu: 'I'm not a feminist, I'm a humanist." Too many smart, talented women eschew the feminist label, usually in favor of something more ambiguous. I'm still not sure if Eryhak Badu meant "humanist" in these terms, but I can see how it would be a safer choice than fully embracing the "F" word. This, however, from Feministing sums up how I feel when someone calls herself a "humanist:"
"Another friend brought up that she's more comfortable with the term "humanist," which Webster defines as "a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values." Okay. Sounds good. But it feels like the fact that it doesn't hold any controversy, that there's so much ambiguity in the terms, makes it less powerful. Plus, it seems to invisibilize the fact that various humans (i.e. women, people of color etc.) have gotten a disproportionate shake at dignity. Somehow 'humanism' sounds neutral to me, like we are all on a level playing field and just need to protect that."
Truth is, I don't have a problem with someone questioning the actually tenets feminism. I do, and I still call myself one. I'd just like to see someone brave enough to utter the word.
Questioning feminism as a movement that's less than inclusive to women who aren't straight, white and/or middle-class is a totally different thing that saying "Oh, I'm not a feminist because I like men." I see a lot of the latter and not enough of the former, frankly.
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