Journalistic Uses of Feminists vs. Women

From the Journalistic Style Guide for Sexist Spin Doctoring:

Word Usage Guidelines: Feminists vs. Women

1. Use the word feminist if you wish to make any reasonable opinion held by women seem nefarious, threatening, or in any way malignant.

2. Use the word feminist when you want to attribute your own sexist attitudes to a group of women.

3. Use the word feminist in any place where the phrase “fictional villain” or “boggy man” might just as accurately be used.

4. Use the words some feminists when you would like to add a ridiculous opinion to your article, for a little controversial spice, but can’t find any actual woman to express the nutty idea that you want to include.

5. Use the word woman to denote any female human who you are not trying to malign, mock, or invent based on your own chauvinistic views of femininity.

For today’s examples of these rules in use, visit Feministing’s take-down of this Times Online article blaming feminism for negative impacts of low sex drives on some people’s marriages (yes, because evil feminism taught women that they had the right to set their own sexual boundaries, even in marriage – shocking! - See rules 1 and 2) and this Washington Post article which falsely pits feminists against women with quotes like:

Many American women are excited about Democrat Hillary Clinton's ground-breaking bid for the White House, but feminists warn she can't count on them just because she's a woman

(see rule 1) and invents fictional feminists for some controversial spice:

But some feminists object to Clinton's decision to stay with her unfaithful husband, former President Bill Clinton, and others argue she fails as a role model by riding his coattails

(see rule 4).

For even more examples of the JSGSSD rules in practice, see the following recent articles: Stripper Poles: New Feminism (rule 2), Is feminism to blame for the ‘happiness gap’? (rule 3), and Women’s Liberation through Housework (rules 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5).