Granola, Class, and Feminism: A Reply to Anonymous

dress - Corey Lynn Calter/Anthro (remixed)

cardi - GAP

tights - LOFT (remixed)

boots - LOFT (remixed)

earrings & hairpin - Anthro (gifted & remixed)

necklace - Target (remixed)

Yesterday, in reply to my feminist manifesto of sorts, in which I said, "I am a feminist, but not because it is a marker of consumer-driven identity like granola-girl (no meat; tofu; organic peanut butter; organic cotton);  I am a feminist because it is an ethical stance,"Anonymous wrote the following:

Why do you assume "granola girls" automatically only identify in terms of consumption? What makes it impossible for the choices they make to be motivated by an ethical stance, as you say your feminism is? (For example, people who don't eat meat often choose this in an attempt to avoid the "systematic oppression of others" that you mention...) And is it impossible for a "granola girl" to also be a feminist? 

This is an excellent question, Anonymous.  Allow me to clarify (in between posting outfit photos in which I added brighter colors to the Most Versatile Dress I've Ever Owned) because my reply to you was really just too long for the comments section.

Before I respond, however, I must ask:  Are you sure you're not one of my friends that's screwing with me under an anonymous moniker? I say that because I used the "granola girl" example because I and others have used that term to describes myself even though"look" far less granola now than I have in the past.

 

I don't think that granola girls "automatically only identify in terms of consumption" if they identify in terms of consumption at all. For the most part, we tend not to think of ourselves in this way. Nor do I think being granola precludes feminism. Obviously. But I also don't think that analyzing something through production/consumption/non-consumption categories has a negative valence--in my work it is a common way that I analyze historical records. 

While there are various approaches and debates about what feminism is and what a feminist ought to do, it would be difficult for me to hear someone say that she identifies or stands in solidarity with granola/crunchiness but also drove a hummer, ate imported red meat everyday, never recycled, and would rather die than change in the locker room at the gym if she hasn't shaved/waxed recently. I would think that the speaker misunderstood the common usage of the term because so much of what is understood by granola has to do with outward habits of consumption/nonconsumption. I would also assume that someone misunderstood feminism if he called himself a feminist but found traditional gender roles personally "nice" and so he wished everyone else would conform to them. 

In common speech, "granola" tends to refer to a lifestyle.  That lifestyle might be the result of ethical decisions, habit, preference, or necessity (or some combination of the above). The term might be used to describe a college feminist, a large Catholic or Mormon family, or the habits of young urban people with disposable income who start shopping at Whole Foods because it's closer to their apartment, find that they actually prefer the taste of organic peanut butter, look into why it tastes better, and conclude that that method of farming is the best one, and then eventually join a co-op. Habits and values are often intertwined, but they are not the same thing. 

The same has been said about feminism and this is why I chose this example.  For you, being granola might be an ethical stance; for others, it might be about class taste or desire.  Some see feminism as a by-product of middle class education and experiences or as an equation that is completed when a number of a la carte issues, class formed norms, and consumptive habits are added up:  subscribing to BUST, donating to domestic violence shelters, and purchasing and affixing a PFLAG sticker to your Mac or your car. I don't see feminism this way.  I see it as a coherent paradigm and an ethical stance outward from which stem actions, habits, and consumptive choices. Others might advocate for crunchiness to be understood as a coherent ethical stance, but that is not my project--neither as a feminist or a granola girl.