In other words, I don’t fit the perpetuated stereotype created to discredit feminist ideologies. Few do. I mean, think about it:  “feminist” has been used synonymously with terrorist, dirty hippie, man-hater, and supposedly far left, absurd political correctness. Basically, it’s made into a parody that mocks a movement fighting for equity among genders. Achieving such justice would mean dismantling a system built on oppression, capitalism, and patriarchy.

The word feminist is itself Eurocentric and—because of this—arguably not intersectional. Yet, in Western society, Eurocentrism is, unfortunately, our default position—that idea that the only important ideas are from European colonial empires. Just look at what we are taught in history classes and you get an idea. Male gender privilege is undoubtedly part of this and harms all women, including white women.

However, feminism has had a tendency to operate on an all-women-are-already-equal platform. The second wave is often criticized for this. Women of colour have different experiences than white women, and, of course, not all women of colour even have the same experiences. To achieve true justice, this “everyone is equal” mentality cannot be applied. As a April 2014 blog post reads: “We do not need a Eurocentric ideology to help us practice what we have ALWAYS practiced as a people. The only reason we stopped respecting one another, regardless of gender, is because the Europeans brainwashed our ancestors into acting like them.”

I can promote intersectional feminism through my work, words, and actions, but I cannot claim language to manipulate how I see fit. I don’t own the word feminist. If I tried to, I would be like those who have alluded that I’m not a feminist because I’m a “baby maker” or others who say I am not aggressive enough to be a feminist.

Though I no longer find it important whether or not people identify as feminists, I do place value on whether their behaviour and attitudes are supportive of women’s and trans rights. I personally identify as a feminist for a number of reasons. I want to get people talking and have the word as part of every day conversation. I want to be the gateway drug for others when it comes to feminism. I think the word feminist identifies the issue of the imbalance of power among genders and I want to show there is nothing to be embarrassed about by identifying as a feminist.

But I’m not a “real” feminist, as per the definition by whoever is calling me as such.

A former This intern, Hillary Di Menna is in her first year of the gender and women’s studies program at York University. She also maintains an online feminist resource directory, FIRE- Feminist Internet Resource Exchange.

Billboard tweeted part of the pop singer’s acceptance speech, which goes: “I am not a feminist, but I do believe in the strength of women.”

As you might have guessed, this caused quite an angry stir. How could a woman accepting an award for being, essentially, the best musical woman of 2012, announce to the world that she’s not a feminist?

Perry was criticized a bunch—but she was also defended. An article in Slate said that a lot of women probably choose to abstain from referring to themselves as feminists because “whenever they begin to engage with the material, feminists condescendingly dismiss them as morons, complete with all-caps maniacal laughter.” And indeed, some publications did react that way.

Jezebel, for example, had this to say: “Hi Katy Perry! At its most simple definition, all feminism means is that you think that women should be equal to men, okay? Cool, thanks, byyyyye!” But really, is this reason enough to shy away from women’s issues altogether? Hardly. And, in fact, that same Jezebel article went on to make a fair point: Why would we ever think Perry’s a feminist in the first place? Her music (“I kissed a girl and I liked it”) doesn’t exactly scream, “Women’s rights!”—So why are we reprimanding her for announcing something that we, deep down, already knew?

For me, it’s the fact that Perry chose to tell everyone exactly what she’s not, when she could have just not said it at all. Why did she even bother bringing up that point? She could have simply said that she’s honoured to receive the award because she believes in empowering women—and left it at that. Why did she feel the need to explicitly state that she’s not a feminist? It makes her sound uninformed (queue the condescending jokes) and uninspiring—which, I can only guess (and hope) was unintentional. As Mish Way wrote for Vice, “in this case, it’s far more damaging to say what you aren’t, rather than say nothing at all.”

If Perry really believes in female empowerment, perhaps next time she’ll think twice about separating herself from the very people who stand for just that.