A response. . . "I'm not a feminist or anything"

In response to, "I'm not a feminist or anything, but. . ."
Feminist is not a dirty word, and feminism is not a negative thing. I am so sick of hearing, "Well, I'm not a feminist or anything, but I think that [insert some feminist ideal here]." I understand that not everyone who has beliefs that women and men should be equal identify as feminists, but why make it a point to tell people you're not?

What does Feminism mean? It doesn't mean man-hating lesbian. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th edition) defines feminism as, "1. Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. 2. The movement organized around this belief." That's it, that is what it means. Some feminists are lesbians, and some feminists hate men, some feminists are straight, some are bi, some are religious, some are atheist, some are radical, some are more conservative. . .and so on. . . but none of those characteristics define the word. Catch my drift?