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Eve,

    Firstly, thank you for replying to my post and thank you for starting your "kick-off" with my suprisingly controversial post. Secondly, I would like to clarify my concern...perhaps I was not entirely clear when I said I am searching for a definition. While I do understand that feminism entails a lot more than what I had originally imagined at the start of the course, I am just not sure I want to incorporate all of it into MY interpretation of feminism. You say that we have become "more knowledgeable about feminism and our own interpretations."  I still think, though, that many would disagree with me if my interpretation of feminism was only to include les femmes. Would you disagree? How would it make you feel?

 Additionally, I was searching for a "feminism is..." so that I better understand where I stand in terms of how I identity myself, as a feminist or not. This is my personal opinion, but I prefer to identify within a binary--either a feminist or not a feminist. I am not trying to figure this out right now, not searching for an answer by the end of the course. CFS taught me to be more speculative of definitions, of certainty. Still, however, I find definitions useful in numerous contexts. While definitions may not be entirely informative or correct, I think they are productive. We can always agree or disagree with communally-driven definitions, but that would be our interpretations of the concept, our opinion. All things considered, I understand that it is quite the challenge to universalize feminism. Nonetheless, I am looking for something--if not a definition, then our class' interpretations of feminism. 

     Maybe instead of a "Feminism is..." it would be benefical to  think of "Feminism is not..."  (even though that too could be considered a reverse defintion). Maybe it would help me to know why people in the class identify as feminists? or don't identify as feminists?  I refuse to either call or not call myself a feminist based on the readings of the course; my identity formation will occur after the course. I am going to take my inquisitiveness out into the world, engage with people, and then be able to assess my identity as a feminist because I will have a strong sense of my values and the issues that I am concerned with. It is only then will I truly know what it is to be feminist.