Why Feminist?

Women will sometimes protest that they are not feminists, even though they hold the same views, use the same rhetoric and promote the same agenda as feminists. I don't think much of the criticism, especially when it comes from religious feminists, because I think the case is a pretty open and shut one.

And then, while cleaning out my study and getting things organize, I ran across a cache of old issues of Priscilla Papers, the journal of "Christians" for Biblical Equality. And it happened to include the issue in which my article was published. For the first time, I noticed that they had actually changed my subtitle. It formerly read, "An Evangelical Egalitarian appraisal". In the published version, it read, "A Feminist Appraisal of John Stuart Mill's Last Work". Then I went and did a quick check of how often the phrase is used. Just checking CBE's bookstore page and searching for "feminist", I quickly found a number of uses of the term. Additionally, back in 1997 frequent CBE author and speaker, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen published the article, "Servanthood or Soft Patriarchy: A Christian Feminist looks at the Promise Keepers Movement" (published in a sociological journal).

I hadn't actually noticed it, but religious feminists have been embracing the term, "feminist" for well over a decade.

Why can't we just admit who we are? I am a partriarchalist - happily, gladly and redeemedly so. Why is it so hard for religious feminists to admit that is what they are?