I don't think it's appropriate to call someone a feminist, or anything, if they haven't chosen to identify with that name. More on blog.

putting labels on people for the sake of your own convenience ranks of laziness in my eyes. More on my blog.
here

Mine's up here

My response (and some belated topic responses ^_~) can be found at my Journal.

here

a rose by any other name... or **no** name for that matter...
I believe we box ourselves and each other with labels, titles, roles, etc. Have you ever read "Spell of the Sensuous" by David Abram... he speaks of language concretizing and detaching us from our senses--making a self-referential life as opposed to one truly LIVED with all the guts and glory we can muster. I think it's time to shirk off all monikers and define ourselves by our actions.

I think it is fair to label someone a "proto-feminist", in some cases and for specific reasons. For example, in certain historical situations it would be dangerous to call oneself a feminist. And I'm assuming the term hasn't been around for that long. (I'll check on this when I write my longer post on my blog later on). For feminist historians, it has been important to discover allies in history, even if they didn't label themselves as feminists, because it demonstrates that there has been a long and rich tradition of women fighting for equal rights, fair treatment, etc.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this actually because I proudly call myself a feminist. Can I really give a name I proudly wear to someone who hates and doesn't want it? In my life I have chosen to say that what the person does is a feminist act and respect that person's right not to be called something they don't want to be called.

Brigitte makes an interesting point and has me pondering a question that seems to fit here. With this topic's emphasis on labels, would you say that you're more likely to think less of a person's feminist actions if they didn't also give themselves the label? What I'm saying is, label or no label doesnt really strike me as important if the actions, words and desires of the person are feminist in principle. By carrying the label, does that somehow make the person More feminist? I dont think so. Its not a pissing contest.

Just some thoughts from someone who doesnt call herself a feminist.

My thoughts are up here.

My response is up here. In sum: feminism has done some negative things that have led to the use of terms like womanist, and it is important to honor people's choice of labels... Just as long as we don't let these differences split up the movement.
However, I didn't address the value in labeling issue directly. I think that no one is "more" feminist than another pro-woman person, and while labeling ultimately doesn't mean much to anyone but the people who choose the labels, it can be very helpful in aligning yourself with a movement and declaring parts of yourself without a long explanation.

Ehm, this is the first time I participate (and obviously I'm like three days late) but anyhow, here are my thoughts.

expanding on Brigitte's point here... if you're ashamed to be called a feminist you don't deserve to be called one, basically.

I just got my answer up now.

I think this topic, in many ways, indicates a much larger problem that's still haunting the feminist movement: the fact that to many people "feminist" is a dirty word. Basically, it's saying that when you get right down to it, being the kind of person who could in any way be labeled feminist is STILL breaking out of women's place in society. This is so much a problem that women are still afraid of calling themselves feminist because they either don't want to rock the patriarchal boat or they don't want to be labeled a ball-busting lesbian. The worse part is that a lot of women and girls think that's exactly what a feminist is.

Brigitte, you have a great point about this question raising further issues - namely WHY women or men might not consider themselves feminists.

A lot of the comments on this question seemed to focus on the negative PRESS that feminists have gotten (bra-burning, ball-busting dykes - though ball-busting dykes can be perfectly lovely), and not on the actual negative ACTIONS (trans-exclusion, borderline racism, narrowmindedness, occasional forays into misandry) feminists have taken at points in the pasts - and in some cases continue to take.

When we talk about not choosing a feminist label as if it's all about buying into stereotypes and not rocking the boat of patriarchy, we disregard the real concerns of many intelligent activists who don't feel comfortable aligning themselves with the movement - or have even, as is sometimes the case with men, been pushed away from it - for much more substantial reasons than stereotyping.

To Eris' point about actions - I think it's much more difficult to label actions than to label oneself and one's perspective on the world. The truth is, if you live a life in pursuit of equality, you're living a "feminist" life. The label doesn't matter when it comes to individual action; it just matters when it comes to group alignment.