I find it somewhat amusing how much Sarah wants Elliot to be in the closet.

I also somewhat cringe at the whole straw feminist thing with Susan. I've always been pro gender equality, and I'm not kidding about that. It got me in trouble with other kids back in first grade, if not sooner.

I've also never thought of feminist as a dirty word. When it comes to Susan's inspiration, I was mostly annoyed by some portrayals of men in sitcoms, and some girls I knew who judged and made excuses based on gender rather frequently, and even they didn't hold the "all men are bad" perspective.

Personally, I've yet to meet a single woman who has been of the opinion that all men are bad. I've encountered sexist people, certainly, but there's this straw feminist archetype that seems to exist in fiction that I've yet to see a real life example of. With billions of people on the planet, I wouldn't be surprised if some existed, but their relative prevalence in fiction is troubling and is one of the reasons some people shy away from the word "feminist" these days.

Feminism is about gender equality. There are issues that are either unique to or far more common with women, and there is a history of inequality between the sexes that is improving with time, but still has a ways to go. In any case, I'm hoping any semantic debates don't take precedence over debating actual issues and helping people.

On the plus side, Susan is ultimately rad, and has personal reasons for her feelings that go beyond straw, as will be addressed.

Commentary added Dec 30, 2014