  &emailalert=no&email=adgrant@indiana.edu&url=http://closeproximity.blogspot.com&name=Proximity&bgcolor=003399&fcolor=FFFFFF&link=FFFFCC&words=comments&title=Comments &width=350&height=350"> Last night I was fascinated by a documentary entitled urlLink The Amasong Chorus: Singing Out , which aired on WTTW's documentary program, Independent Lens. In the mid 70's, a female college student formed a chorus for feminists and/or lesbians and it was the first of its kind.
The group developed from a random cross-section of women to a very talented, award winning chorus. I found this so interesting because of the stories behind the women's choice to become involved in the choir. Most interesting, several heterosexual members described the experience of being identified as lesbian because they were part of a group that self-identified as lesbian and/or feminist. Their music was really beautiful, and it spanned the musical genres from traditional hymns to "god is a womyn" stuff.
What I found to be really enlightening here is a concept that I have been thinking about for quite some time, and I think this is really problematized by cultural conception. The choir's inclusion of both hetero and homo women clearly placed the notion that the term "feminist" has quite an individual meaning for each woman, and the idea that feminists are one kind of person with one set of values is really an outdated label attributed to first wave feminism and gross socio-cultural misconception. It seems to me that we can all agree that there is a very base definition of feminism, one that argues for the equality and empowerment of women. But, then you have some camps that argue that feminism can succeed only with solidarity among the male sex, and others who argue that the inclusion and involvement of men is destructive to the whole notion of feminism, and so on into infinity. I have always resisted the label of feminist, although I share many ideals presented by feminist authors and activists, because I really reject the inevitable and often uninformed labeling that goes along with such a term. Meaning, if I say I am a feminist, does that mean that I want Bush out of office? (I do want him gone, by the way).
I know some feminists who are Republican-- this seems paradoxical--but the truth is that our modern world has bred so many different types of feminist thought that a blanket (negative) label is just plain ineffective. I really enjoyed this documentary because it did help me think about some of this jazz, and although I'm still no clearer on whether or not I want to be known or identified as a feminist, I was glad to see that for many years women of various belief systems and sexual orientations have been creating positive energy with their passion for music, therefore presenting the idea of feminism and a feminist woman as something that is no longer static and stereotypical.
Basically, getting to see the people react to the label of feminism and wanting to transcend that through music was pretty powerful. How do you as a person and the term "feminist" get along? I'd love some comments. 
