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Individualist feminism (also known as libertarian feminism or ifeminism) is a term for feminist ideas which seek to celebrate or protect the individual woman.

History

An "individualist" feminism was expressed in 19th century individualist anarchist publications such as Liberty and Lucifer the Lightbearer as well as by individualists highly critical of capitalism such as Voltairine de Cleyre and Ezra Heywood. When anarchist feminism emerged at the break of 19th-20th centuries individualist flavors had the most adherents in the United States while in Europe anarcha-feminism had more emphasis on collectivism.. A book which discusses the history of individualist feminism is Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Rediscovered by Joan Kennedy Taylor.

Principle

A core principle of individualist feminism is that all human beings have a moral and/or legal claim to their own persons and property, not to any sort of affirmative action policies or privileges. In most parts of Europe it is viewed as postmodern feminism because of its pluralistic view of female nature. While other schools often stress that women in general are living under similar circumstances, individualist feminists stress that all women are unique and have unique goals.

Individualist feminism contra other feminisms

Some individualist feminists have applied the label gender feminism to describe feminists they see as holding that an animosity exists between genders and calling for statist measures to intervene in gender relations. Thus individualist feminism is distinct from both mainstream and radical feminist movements.

See also

• Dora Marsden
• Wendy McElroy
• Carol Moore
• Sarojini Sahoo
• Ezra Heywood
• Cathy Young
• Sharon Presley
• Heidi Wyss
• Methodological individualism

References

1. ^ Margaret S. Marsh (February 1981). Anarchist Women, 1870-1920. Temple University Press. ISBN 0-87722-202-9. 
2. ^ "Feminism: Anarchist" by Judy Greenway. 2000. Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge. Kramara, Cheris & Spender, Dale eds. Routledge. p. 712, quoting Margaret March (1981) "Anarchist women,1870-1920"
3. ^ McElroy, Wendy. Affirmative Action Insults Immigrant Contributions. Retrieved on 2007-01-16.
4. ^ Sommers, Christina (May 1995). Who Stole Feminism. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-68480-156-6.