You know what is awesome? Feminine feminists. Why? Because they reject the patriarchal narrative of what it means to be an empowered woman. The patriarchy has made a space for “the feminist” within its structure and deemed her to be a hairy-legged, man-hating caricature. Now, I might not be the most feminine chick in the beauty salon (as my luxurious armpit hair will demonstrate) but the fact that I can shut down a sexist without getting any lipstick on my teeth makes me awesome.
By rejecting femininity wholesale, you’re actually agreeing with the sexist assumption that masculinity is better, that maleness is the more worthy gender. You can recognize the constructed nature of gender at the same time you perform it.
I wish my teenage conservative radfem self (yeah go figure) could have heard this. Could have saved me some time.
