Nietogomez, however, argues with that assumption. As she states, "I support my community and I do not ignore the women in my community (who have long been forgotten). The feminist movement . . . is a group of people is a group of people that advocates the end of women"s oppression" (p. 302). Nietogomez also mentions that some define a feminist as someone who hates men, and that while that may be true of some feminists, it is not true of all feminists. .

             Having just finished reading Mary Daly"s article, too, "The Metapatriarchal Journey of Exorcism and Ecstasy from Gyn/Ecology", which is largely an exploration of the etymological roots of derogatory words and phrases used to describe women as unwanted, dangerous, useless, inferior, or evil, this article got me thinking about how and why the word "feminism" itself may have gotten such a bad name among today"s general public. As Nietogomez accurately points out (and as I confirmed in my own Webster"s New American Dictionary, the two meanings of the word "feminism" are simply "1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes, and 2: organized activity on behalf of women"s rights and interests" (p. 191). Nothing in either of these dictionary meanings implies hatred of men. But as Nietogomez (and Daly) suggest, it is the connotation of the word that gives it a derogatory meaning. This is also the root cause of people"s asking Nietogomez how she can possibly be both a Chicana and a feminist-it is easy to misunderstand the many connections that can indeed be quite easily made between being a Chicana and a feminist if one misunderstands the real meaning of the word "feminist". When one thinks about it, being a Chicana and a feminist go naturally together, since oftentimes women in Chicana/o culture are automatically looked down upon based on gender-even more so than in other cultures.