When did the word “feminist” become such a dirty label?

When one first mentions the word feminist, one word (or many versions of this word) automatically jumps into their head — lesbian. Dyke. Carpet Muncher. (You know the rest; I need not entertain you anymore!) I have nothing against lesbians — I have a sister that is one and a number of my friends who are lesbians. But don't assume that just because someone is a feminist that they are a lesbian. (As a matter of fact, Alan Alda, famous from his days on M*A*S*H is an outspoken feminist but I think one would find it difficult to call HIM a dyke!)

I am proud to be a feminist, yet I am damn sure 99.9 per cent of my classmates thought I was a lesbian. Why? Because I am heavy, had very close female friendships with other classmates and wore comfortable clothes (i.e. I didn't wear jeans so low you could see my anatomy or my thong undies, or shirts that showed off my torso or my boobs.) That is called stereotyping. You could call it intolerance, prejudice or everyone's favourite word these days, racist, if you wanted to get technical about it.

I wear comfy clothes to school because the days are long and everything else I own at my age is formal office wear. I own more makeup than your average Shopper's Drug Mart but I choose the “natural so you really can't see it look” vs. the “slap it on with a trowel” approach. I shave everything except my head so I am not one of the stereotypical hairy beasts that you have in your head when you think of a feminist. I am also a sinner in the eyes of most religions, especially the Catholics. I have taken the morning-after pill just to be safe, because I had just changed my type of birth control (Oh no, another sin!)

I got a reputation for telling my classmates to, “Wear some clothing!” because they looked indecent. Were I a lesbian, would I not be ogling and drooling all over them and their tits and all that they were showing off every single day of the week?

George Bush's recent nomination of U.S. Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts should make every woman — American and Canadian — damn nervous. And with the recent passing of Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, all of our rights as women are on the block. It may be happening in the USA, but women's rights in Canada tend to follow what our Big Brother down south is doing, and we should be afraid, very afraid. Dubya is in a position to put in two Supreme Court judges who can set women's rights and choices back 40 years in one fell swoop!

So far in the Judicial Senate hearings, Mr. Roberts has refused to come forward and say if he is pro-choice or pro-life. He did, however state that the landmark ruling in 1973 (Roe v. Wade) was, “settled as a precedent.” When pressed for more answers on these types of questions, Mr. Roberts said repeatedly that he should not address issues that could come before the Supreme Court with him as Chief Justice. (Anyone seen or read Catch-22?) He hemmed and hawed so much that one senator accused him of filibustering and another told him to just, “Go ahead and continue not to answer the question!”

Senators have questioned Dubya's choice of Roberts to succeed the late William Rehnquist as Chief Justice when so many issues are up in the air about privacy and abortion and overturning a woman's right to choose are up in the air. And you know what makes it even more fun? Roberts was just supposed to be a judge in the Supreme Court. With Rehnquist's death, Dubya can feasibly put in another anti-woman/anti-feminist judge in there and life will go back (for women) to back-alley abortions and quick “vacations” to Tijuana. Never before has Dubya had the power to potentially screw up so many lives. (That is, if you don't count the 6500 plus American soldiers overseas.)

Yet, at his “introduction” to the world with Dubya, Roberts was with his perfectly coifed wife, his daughter that looked like something that came out of the town of Stepford and an adorable four-year old son in short pants (Hey, when did those come back into style?) His son was acting like a hellion and neither parent even reacted to him. Is John Roberts the devil in disguise?

In the upcoming months women of all kinds, not just feminists, should keep an eye on what they are doing in the US Supreme Court, as our courts tend to follow the tenets of Big Brother to the South. Know your rights and try to keep them because before you know, they will be taken away!

Janet is occasionally a second year student in the hospitality department, supposedly on co-op at the moment with plans on returning in January to torture two professors by re-taking their courses once again. She does not expect any help in Front Death Part Two this time any more than she excepts the Messiah to show up and clean her cat's litter box. She can be reached at djembejanet@hotmail.com

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