Commenting Jason Boas - "...incomplete definition leaves a hole in the logic."

“‘In the most basic sense, feminism is exactly what the dictionary says it is: the movement for social, political, and economic equality of men and Women.’
So, a feminist would be someone who encourages the movement to make men and women equal.
When I went searching for a comprehensible meaning to the term feminist, I didn't expect the definition that I found.(see above) The main reason for this is that I previously believed that among rationale individuals there were those who were feminists and those who were not. However, using the basic definition I found it would be difficult to say that any rationale person, including myself, could say that they were not a feminist. The misconception I had previously was that a feminist was someone who thought that females were superior to males or someone who is against men. That is obviously not the case and is simply a fallacy brought on via incorrect use of the term over the several centuries that it has been a part of our lexis.”

I disagree with this interpretation of what being a feminist entails given this definition. By the above description of Feminism, a feminist can’t be someone who simply “encourages” the movement; they’d have to actually participate. I say this because in this sense the term “feminist” automatically draws a tie to the term “activist” and activists ACT! The definition above clearly states “the movement…”, so how can one be a feminist by merely believing that women should have rights equal to those of men? It’s easy to point fingers and look askance at those who think differently than you (i.e. calling them ir-“rationale”) but you’ll never change the world that way - you won’t even gain support. If femin-ists were people who only discouraged the sexism in today’s world, then femin-ism wouldn’t be a movement at all but solely a belief system (which happens to be its other appropriated definition). Encouraging something isn’t necessarily fighting for it, the same way that discouraging something isn’t fighting against it. Simply put, if you don’t act on your thoughts by consciously making an effort to change what you find immoral, then you can’t really apply the label to yourself. The same way that Civil Rights activists marched for freedom, the people sitting at home, watching them on TV, and cheering them on weren’t activists…they were supporters at best. They encouraged the Civil Rights movement, but they by not taking part, played no major role in its “success”.
Now if the writer had defined feminism as a doctrine rather than, or in addition to, as a movement, then his interpretation of what it is to be a feminist would hold some ground. But given this interpretation of the term, one can’t be declared a feminist by merely supporting the doctrine. My final verdict is that he should have included the other definition of Feminism; his post gives somewhat of a broken understanding of it because the incomplete definition leaves a hole in the logic.

Feminist or Feminist?

<http://stanford.library.usyd.edu.au/entries/feminism-topics/>
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines feminism as both an intellectual commitment and a political movement that seeks justice for women and the end of sexism in all forms.

By the former portion of this definition I guess that I would fall into the classification of a "feminist". I'm far from a sexist, I disagree with any beliefs of the sort, and I'm all for the fair and just treatment and rights of women as a whole. BUT the latter portion as it regards feminism as a political movement throws me out of the loop. I'm not part of any feminist movement- political or not. Sure I agree with their beliefs and purposes, but for me to call myself a feminist would be dishonest in that I'm not active in pursuing the goals in which true feminists have set out to acheive.

Most people upon hearing the term feminism automatically draw the idea of feminist activism or something to that effect; this is the idealogy of feminism as a political movement. Now knowing that and guaging by people's perceptions of the terms feminist and feminism, anyone who merely believes that women should be granted equal rights but makes no attempts to facilitate the ambition isn't even half a feminist. Actions speak much louder than words and in following this mentality, one could easily deduct that the only true feminists are the activists themselves- the picketeers and protesters, the authors, the public speakers and so on. Basically, you have to do a lot more than just think or feel to be a feminist.