Is there really such a thing as a 'bad' feminist? In my opinion, I don't think so. Sometimes I feel that I am a bad feminist, but that's okay.
Last month I purchased a copy of Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay. The entire premise of the book pretty much explores the concept of 'bad feminist', whether engaging with films or media that have predominantly sexist stereotypes of women and enjoying it makes you a 'bad feminist'. Personally, I have got to admit, I do enjoy certain things that display sexism within them, but (obviously) I don't enjoy them because of the sexism. Hypocritical, much? My answer is 'meh' - I believe, for myself at least, it's more about recognising sexism or being able to criticise it and say "right, that's not okay", rather than completely banning myself from it.
I still read classic books by appalling sexists. Wanna know why? Simply because it's only in the last couple of decades where publishers have started to say no to things that promote negative attitudes and stereotypes towards women. In terms of law, legislation's have been introduced to promote healthy attitudes towards women (even though they do suck in action!), rather than continuously viewing them as objects in which you can control. Despite this, sexist attitudes are still getting filtered out. However, I like to think that this new generation of modern feminism allows people to recognise that attitudes are fundamentally wrong much quicker than it would have been in the past. Popular spokespeople such as Emma Watson, Beyonce and Malala Yousafzai have made it easier to critique modern issues, allowing people to be less afraid to call out men or women for 'outdated' attitudes. Facebook, Twitter and many other social media platforms provide a voice for people about these things, even if we are presumed to be keyboard warriors.
In regards to problematic modern culture, such as comics, there have been plenty of times where the imbalance between what I believe in and what I love has caused me the utmost frustration. While there have always been women in comics, the quality of representation hasn't been the slightest bit consistent. It's been an enormous echo of the problematic points of view in the real world, constantly reminding me that my gender is majorly misunderstood by the industry I love. However I can still manage to enjoy comics, as well as criticise them. Sexism is still common and half the time we probably don't even notice it. I'm sure I can speak on behalf of my readers when I say I've watched a film I grew up with and realised how problematic it was, whether it be racism, sexism etc. We all know the feeling! Sexism is filtering out, and I've come to accept that it will never be perfect, but a feminist can only dream.
