Individualist feminism

Individualist feminism, also known as ifeminism, is a libertarian feminist movement that emphasizes individualism, personal autonomy, freedom from state-sanctioned discrimination against women, and gender equality.

Overview

Individualist feminists attempt to change legal systems to eliminate sex and gender privileges, and to ensure that individuals have equal rights. Individualist feminism encourages women to take full responsibility for their own lives and opposes any government interference into choices adults make with their own bodies.

Individualist or libertarian feminism is sometimes grouped as one of many branches of liberal feminism, but it tends to diverge significantly from the mainstream liberal feminism of the 21st century. Individualist feminists Wendy McElroy and Christina Hoff Sommers define individualist feminism in opposition to what they call "political" or "gender feminism". In Europe, individual feminism is more open to the tenets of queer theory and gender mainstreaming. The German individual feminist Mirna Funk separates her feminism from the political mainstream current (she refers to this as "Reihenhausfeminismus"; in English, "row house feminism"), as she emphasizes women's individual responsibility and rejects victimization on one hand, while proclaiming a feminist capitalism on the other, which is criticized by other feminists as "Girlboss feminism".

Beliefs

Libertarian feminists reject gender roles that limit women's autonomy and choice, and assert that strict gender roles limit both women and men, especially if they are legally enforced. Libertarian feminists are critical of using institutional power to achieve positive aims, believing that allowing the government to make decisions on behalf of women may limit women's individual choices. For instance, banning sex work to "protect" women treats women as a monolithic group, rather than individuals, and takes away economic opportunities for women who want to work in the sex industry by choice.