Kellyanne Conway, You're Definitely A Feminist

Believing in the equality of genders seems like a no-brainer, especially for well-educated, well-off people. Still, adopting the label of a "feminist," despite its definition standing for equality and equality alone, feels too extreme for some. For example, Kellyanne Conway says she's not a feminist when, let's be honest, she totally is. Conway's interview with The Washington Post asked her, point blank, "You don't consider yourself a feminist?" Conway's answer, approached in a roundabout way, ended with her sharing: "I consider myself a postfeminist." Though she's wont to deny it, Conway's full answer speaks less about the rejection of feminism and more to some common misconceptions about feminism.

Conway begins her response by acknowledging that the feminist movement has, within it, differing views. Some of these are often misinterpreted:

I feel like the feminist movement has been hijacked by the pro-abortion movement or the anti-male sentiments that you read in some of their propaganda and writings.

Her logic, however, quickly devolves from there. "I’m not anti-male," Conway insists which is, of course, a moot point to the original inquiry. Feminists are not, by definition, "anti-male" at all; It's about equality.

Conway then attempts to explain how "anti-male culture" has insisted that "young boys... sit down and shut up in the classroom," also insinuating that the media portrays men unfairly, as, in her words, "feckless boob[s]." Her insistence that a cultural movement is targeting men is not just bizarre, but, (despite the disputed existence of such a culture), has no real influence on what is and isn't feminist.

Conway's remarks on the subject end with her sharing: "I consider myself one of those women who is a product of her choices, not a victim of her circumstances." This statement appears to run contrary to a different idea that she uttered earlier in her interview, in which Conway acknowledges the career privilege she was given in her field, one that, she notes, many other women aren't offered:

I do work hard, but so many people, so many women in this country work hard. But they don’t often get what I got, which was my shot and my time to help manage and execute on a plan and a vision at the highest levels of politics and government.

If by "postfeminist" Conway means "inherently feminist but not ascribed to traditional liberal ideologies promoting equality," then, sure, Conway's "postfeminist." Despite plenty of the problematic, anti-feminist beliefs that Conway promotes, the least of which is her enabling a misogynistic presidential candidate and president, Conway's rationale against feminism does not attack the "theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes." Though she may not want to be looped in with many who adopt the "feminist" label, Conway is absolutely a feminist herself.