etymology - Why is "feminism" good but "racism" and other "-isms" bad?



Feminism is generally seen as a good thing. It means something or other about achieving equality of the sexes; of treating people of different sexes the same or as well as each other.


Racism is generally seen as a bad thing. It means something or other about not achieving equality between people of different races; of treating people of different races differently and badly.


Why is there this difference between -isms? Where did it come from?



Answer



Oxford defines the suffix -ism as





  1. denoting an action or its result: baptism exorcism


    denoting a state or quality: barbarism




  2. denoting a system, principle, or ideological movement: Anglicanism feminism hedonism


    denoting a basis for prejudice or discrimination: racism



  3. denoting a peculiarity in language: colloquialism Canadianism

  4. denoting a pathological condition: alcoholism



There is no inherent good or bad about these uses (except possibly the disease definition).


The source, according to ODO is



from French -isme, via Latin from Greek -ismos, -isma



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