‘How dare you NOT call yourself a feminist?’ – It Galz share their views on labels

Have you ever been labelled against your will?

On this week's episode of Girls With Goals we invited Lindsay Hamilton and Jenny Claffey of 'It Galz' fame to our studio. They started their podcast almost two years ago, originally pegged as an ode to 'Sex And The City' (THE DREAM), the podcast gradually evolved into them simply chatting about their own lives... and they hold nothing back. Since they started podcasting they've gained a massive following and, it's fair to say, they've ruffled some pristine feathers along the way. The refreshing thing about these women, in my opinion, is that they genuinely don't seem to care about 'trolls' or 'online hate'. The 'It Galz' are famously brazen with a no-nonsense approach to many topics that other mainstream media outlets shy away from. Knowing this, I was excited (and slightly nervous) to meet them and find out what they're REALLY like in person. via GIPHY Check out the full episode below to hear us chat about feminist controversy (12.25), being a little bit pissed on The Voice of Ireland (45.12), how the Irish LOVE to gossip (27.30) and DATES (54.01)...     When the 'It Galz' were first formed they were self-professed 'fine ass feminists', in the last year though that's all changed. They no longer identify with the word 'feminist' something that isn't sitting well with some. Lindsay explained to us how the whole conversation about the word began:

'When we started off we did use that word to describe ourselves, as time went on I found that the word was being used against me if I did something that didn't configure with the 'women supporting women' version. I felt kind of encased by this word, as if I needed to be a certain type of woman'.

  Lindsay went on to say that she wasn't talking about the entire movement or the ideology, it's really just about the word:

'I'm not talking about the whole movement which has done massive things, I'm aware! It's more middle class modern feminism which I think exists in Ireland,  and which I just don't relate to, I don't need to have a word I don't need to attach myself to a religion or a word'.

Agreeing with Lindsay, Jenny explained what they struggle with:

 'I think one thing that Lindsay and I always struggled with was like obviously not every single feminist agrees on every single thing about feminism but when you align yourself with just a descriptor  people then expect you to act as their perception and their standards of feminism!

The 'It Galz' are pretty clear in what they mean: feminism to them is not about wearing a logo t-shirt from H&M, they're imploring people to look at what they do, see how they live their lives, how they treat men and women, but they also want to be liberated from being labelled. Jenny wrapped up the conversation with a pretty fair request:

'I respect anyone who calls themselves a feminist, that's completely up to you, but with the respect that I give you or anyone else it should be given back to me by choosing to not use a word to describe myself'.

What do you think? You can watch the full episode via our YouTube channel below. Check out the It Galz podcast here.