Should Feminism Be Renamed?

In a recent heated discussion about sexism, my best friend and housemate said that he has no problem with feminism as a perspective, perhaps would go as far as to identify himself as a feminist to a certain extent, but his problem is with the term 'feminism' as it connotes exclusivity to women and exclusion of men. He doesn't identify as a 'meninist' (thank the lord) and would instead like to see a new, gender neutral term introduced, something along the lines of 'humanism' so that this confusion no longer occurs.

Obviously humanism is a term and perspective already in practice, and it's doctrine is one which, to some degree, lines up with that of feminism - the value of human beings regardless of age, ethnicity, religion etc. But many people I have spoken to, men and women, agree to a certain extent that 'feminism' as a term can have ambiguous undertones like mentioned above. This isn't the case, despite the overriding principles of the perspective and as highlighted beautifully by Emma Watson's HeForShe campaign, but something is clearly still being misinformed in the media, schools and societal institutions in general if the term is carrying suggestions of segregation and prejudice against men.

This is an issue that troubles me a lot. In the near future, I hope the opportunity arises for me to use my passion for feminism to address this, either during my university experience or by my own means. I know I'm not the only one who cares about this, because many feminists want to teach the modern doctrine in schools so that pejorative connotations are not reinforced to future generations, and so feminism and its followers are not perceived as frightening and 'Nazi like'. If renaming and redefining the term is what it takes to abolish fear and negative representation, then so be it.

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