Jezebel linked to my blog, and I can't help but think I should apologize for it.

Last week, Jezebel linked to this post I wrote a few years ago, much to my embarrassment. Most of what I wrote still stands, but I neglected to acknowledge that there are myriad ways women refuse the feminist label, and not all of them are "'cause men don't find it sexy." Feminism has historically failed to address the needs of trans* women, women of color, working-class women of all races, and disabled women. These are legitimate gripes, ones I have voiced myself in the four years since I wrote that post, and ones I would like to see more often in mainstream discussion about feminism. The problem happens when famous default to the trope that feminists hate men.

Growing up, I never received the message that feminism was something shameful. It was something you were supposed to be, like anti-racist or anti-homophobic. The truth is, I don't know if even I consider myself a feminist anymore, taking into consideration its failure to learn from its own recent history. And that makes me feel like a huge hypocrite, especially when someone links to an old post of mine that was all "yay feminism!" and very little critique.

I keep those old posts up as a way to check myself. To see how far I've come, no matter how embarrassing they are.