Feminism, of course.
I was reading an ethical slut's blog this morning (as one does) and found an unexpected diatribe against being "shoehorned" into a box labelled "sex-positive feminist".
I understand her anger, but living more in the mainstream than she does, I have mostly avoided the problems of being surrounded by radical professed feminists who act in practice against their beliefs or whose beliefs are so divided and individually defined that it's hard to say you share them just because you are female.
Though I haven't avoided the problems of being surrounded by people who have never even thought about what the word "feminism" might actually mean and simply use it to tease and marginalise any woman they see as vaguely liberated.
The word is loaded - like many words, it has accumulated so many different meanings and so many powerful connotations that it's no longer useful as an accurate description of someone or something.
Those of us who recognise some kinship with ideas of working towards gender equality and against the damaging structures of patriarchy need to create new words to unite under; new words to share with others; new words to feed into media and guide new ways of thinking.
"Furry Girl" from the above mentioned blog describes herself as an "ethical slut" - and I imagine her use of this phrase is not an accident.
In 1997, Dossie Easton and Catherine Liszt wrote an influential book called The Ethical Slut, in which they try to reclaim the word slut "as a term of approval, even endearment".
Their re-definition has not made it as far as the Oxford Dictionary (or even Wikipedia), but the conspicuous phrase "ethical slut" seems a welcome new articulation for people who have no desire to narrowly define their sexual identity or excuse physical desire and intimate connection.
What are the equivalent phrases for feminism?
