Following the success of ELLE's recent feminism project that posed the question, 'does feminism needs rebranding?', eight inspiring women were invited to speak at a live debate on Monday at Mother London. Writer and finalist on The Great British Bake-Off, Ruby Tandoh, was one of them.
Ruby spoke insightfully about the stereotypes associated with feminism, the reasons why some people are reluctant to use the term and what we should do to dispel misconceptions:
I would definitely say Im a feminist but there have been times when Ive been less ready to accept that term. I think thats why I can understand it when people are a bit wary of it.
We think that feminists are angry, single ladies that is just the stereotype that comes attached, and thats why we really need to challenge that.
This isnt about dumbing feminism down, or making it more girly, more soft, or diluting any of its messages. We dont need to compromise on our integrity but we do need to change our means; make it more inclusive, make it less academic. And to be honest, if our aim is equality, thats a pretty strong brand slogan to go for.
