Ask Your Question today
Feminism is a very heated topic. Many on internet forums bash the hell out of it. However the news is always trying to get women more involved. what are you thoughts?
| Feminism is another word for man bashing | 55 | |
| Both genders are equal enough. We don't need it | 49 | |
| Couldn't care less | 17 | |
| I'm a Feminist and it rocks | 35 | |
| I'm a female and it rocks | 23 | |
| I'm a male and it rocks | 13 |
Feminism isn't synonymous with "man bashing". I don't think wanting women to have equal rights as men is anti-male. I don't see a reason why women shouldn't have equal rights and equal opportunities, and if women do have fewer rights and opportunities, then changing that isn't "bashing" men at all. I don't think people should be given special privileges based solely on whether they're male or female. I'm not sure if that makes me a feminist or not.
I don't know enough about the topic to have an informed opinion about it. I do think it's still necessary, though, unfortunately.
So I guess that's my answer; it's necessary. I think it's bad that a group like this is needed in the first place, but if there is a need, then I think it's good that the group exists.
My feeling is that feminism, the theory, and even the mere word, affirms the very thing that it seems to resent- a fundamental difference between people. Suckonthis9 actually makes a good point, although he's obnoxious about it. -ists and -isms are stratifying words, words that create groups and label people.
I am *not* a "feminist" but I do believe in equality of all human beings. I resent the fact that a modern movement feels that it can take ownership of something like "equality". I don't think one has to be a feminist to believe that women are people, just like men. I hate the word "feminism" and honestly I think the movement is misguided. Why do feminists feel the need to slap a label on the belief that we're all just people? It is a CONTRADICTION in itself. If we're all just people, why do you have to put a label on yourself like that? Believing in equality is not a proprietary element of the feminist movement. Belief in equality LONG transcends and precedes that movement.
My points are all over the place, I've being feeling scatterbrained recently, but does that make sense?
That makes sense to me.:) In fact, I've wrote similar things on the site, and I think I agree with you. At least I think we're on the same page, maybe I misinterpreted your point. Hmmm...I'm off to use the search bar!
"I wouldn't consider myself a feminist at all. I really think just having a group working for equality would be more effective, where inequality faced by both men and women is focused on (rather than focusing on one gender). I feel like feminism neglects inequalities faced by men, and therefore leads to them becoming alienated. However, it's undeniable that women are the main victims of sexism, therefore feminism is justifiable and understandable, in my opinion."
Ugh, I feel a bit weird quoting myself! It just takes less time than formulating and writing what I want to say out again, though. Is that along the lines of what you wrote? Or did I just misinterpret your comment?:P
Either way, like I said on my initial comment on this post, I really don't know enough about the topic. I've always just assumed that the reason Feminism came about is because there was a significant difference between the rights men had and the rights women had (favouring men), and I'm sure this is still the case in some countries. So, there needed to a movement focused on women and giving them the rights they didn't have but men did, and creating a level playing field, so to speak.
It does make sense to me, but that was the past, and I'd hope that we'd have moved on from that now, to the point where Feminism is no longer needed. I also believe in equality for everyone, which is why I was unsure as to whether I could be deemed as a feminist. I've never felt like one and it's not something I'd label myself as. I feel like if you're going to preach about equality, that you can't just focus it on one group, because it does seem contradictory to the notion of equality, like you said.:)
Blah, I'm feeling a bit scatterbrained myself (it's absolutely boiling here, and my brain is melting!). Did *that* make sense?:P I feel like I've rambled without actually making the point I wanted to make.D: Either way, I do agree with what you're saying, I just can't word it properly at the moment.
^this
Many pople think that feminists want women to be more than men but that's bullshit. Feminism is about equality not about hating men.
I know, right! I mean tearing down male victim awareness posters isn't anti-male at all! Even when breaking the law to do so, which they were aware of! Not anti-male at all!
Or how they attack men with vilgar language for going to view a speech about what men face in modern society, holding the doors shut to prevent the men from having their freedom of choice, then pulling fire alarms to stop the speech, which is going against the whole idea of "equality" by not allowing men to have their speeches while they are allowed theirs.
I mean, this is totally not anti-male behavior.
Now you're mistaking male-haters for feminists. Feminists don't do anything like that even if those men haters call themselves feminists. Actual idea of feminism is about equality but some women take it too far but that's not how most of feminists behave.
No, friend, this is where you are mistaking feminists for anything other than male-haters. It was feminists that done this.
You can't have a group who's most prominent people act a certain way and dictate what the movement is just to say "that isn't what the movements is about".
Most feminists agree with the ideology these people have. They follow the same beliefs.
However you do bring up a good point, but it is betrayed by how the so called "real" feminists have done "nothing" to say "these people are wrong, don't confuse these posers with real feminists".
If feminists, the "real ones" really differed and had a problem with what these other feminists are doing, why have we not heard them point out how wrong these other people in their movement have done wrong?
Until the movement starts pointing out to these feminists that are the most active in feminism that they are doing wrong from doing such things, they are implying they have no problem with such people in their group.
You can't have a group filled with people doing what I explained, then expect to be seen as the complete opposite.
You have interesting points to make, but you're not going to convince anyone by harassing everyone who uses an -ist or -ism. Thats why you get thumbed down so much. Just make your point and move on, you don't have to be so persistent, you're just wasting your time and pissing people off.
you're into human rights. a Humanist
why are there feminists and the mens movement. if they both want gender equality.
it's like the KKK and black panthers.
Most of what the group claims tends to be refuted. The movement is not necessary at all, and it is an anti-male movement "now". Look at VAWA for example "The violence against women act", even though that males make up half of violent crime victims and domestic violence victims, the act is completely skewed to help women.
Men are constantly turned down from domestic violence shelters simply for being male, and even though half of the victims are male, the vast majority of the shelters are for women, not equal for men.
I don't think you understand that most people do not believe women should have less rights, feminism is not just about getting equal rights, it's about getting privilege for women.
You're talking about a group that tears down male victim awareness posters for not good reason. A group that calls men going to a speech to listen to what someone has to say on what men face "fucking scum", and other vulgar things. Holding the doors shut not allowing people to have their right to view what they want to view simply because it does not comply with the feminists ideology.
Hell, there was a case where feminists murdered an ex-feminists dog and sent constant death threats simply on talking on the problems men face (which is what equality is about, both male and female problems).
They are the type of group that goes on and on about things like the wage gap, even when there has been a study and now factual proof that the reason for the pay gap is that men make different choices than women in life to get that extra pay. This group "chooses" not to acknowledge these facts because it doesn't comply with what they want the conclusion to be, that they are just victims of this so called "patriarchy".
The group may have been needed back in the day, but not now.
Some of the most annoying bitches I've known have called themselves feminists.
However I don't think they are representative of the movement and I think the term is offensive and a misnomer. Perhaps it should be called 'Gender Equality' or something similar.
I do believe that society had been discriminatory towards women in the past (not having the right to vote, etc), but things are much better now.
Like all things it's impossible to reduce it to either "good" or "bad". There are feminists who are good people and feminists who are bad people. I genuinely believe most feminists want to work toward gender equality, but there's a vocal minority who want female supremacy. We need groups who work to reduce injustice against women (and injustice against men, too).
I just wish more of the good-people feminists would seriously consider using another name. Calling themselves the same thing lends a veneer of legitimacy to the bad-people feminists and at the same time hurts their own credibility.
I and understand the reluctance to let bad people steal the term, but it wasn't a very good label for a philosophy that claims to want equality anyway.
I agree, in a society where men and women are becoming closer to equal the term could be construed as implying a focus only on women. Of course the word itself shouldn't really matter but I think it could be better for them if they started using a more gender neutral label, if only to separate female supremacists from gender equality feminists. It's the sort of problem that always seems to arise when two groups of people believing completely different things both try to use the same label.
Feminism and gender equality are two different things. I support "equality", but I do not support feminism.
How can anyone support a group that tears down male victim awareness posters, and aggressively protests, harassing and using vulgar language to anyone expressing their "rights" to view a speech on what men face in today's world. This group calls them "fucking scum" simply for going to view a speech, then holding the doors shut which they are not allowed to do so that people cannot view the speech.
These men were going to a speech that was there right to do so, and this group rallied together, screamed and shouted at people that expressed their right to view what they want to view when legal, screaming over the speech, and then pulling the fire alarm so the people cannot attend the speech, then cheering when they have just tried to silence freedom of speech.
You can sit there and say "not all feminists are like that", and that may be the case, however the feminists that "are" doing those things are the ones taking over the movement, and the other feminists that claim to not be the same have done "nothing" to say to the public "These people doing this in the name of feminism are not feminists, we do not support such behavior and apologize on behalf of feminism for what these people claiming to be feminists have done in our name"...Do you hear them even go against these feminists going against "human rights" and "legal rights"? No, so why should I, or anyone think "Oh, ofcourse the movement is not filled with anti-male people.
Feminism is no longer about equality. Have you heard feminism adress how men make up half of the domestic violence victims, and yet the vast majority of battered shelters for domestic violence victim are not for men or turn men away? No, they prefer to make "more" for only half of the victims because they are women.
There are so many reasons why feminism is wrong, modern feminism that is.
I support equality, however feminism shows that they are only for equality when it comes to benefiting women at the expense of men, which is not equality at all.
"gender equality can be achieved by working solely on the issues of one of them". That sums up their movement.
Most of the people they call "women haters" are people that are what feminists "claim" to be themselves.
Feminists make the arrogant assumption that they are the voice for "women", that their movement is the female gender itself, however they don't realize that there are so many women that oppose them and don't want them speaking in their name.
Here is a video for you on the topic of the speech from a known Youtuber known as "TheAmazingAthiest".
Worth the watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2KPeMcYsuc
I am disappointed that there are two separate options for: "I am a male and it rocks." and ""I am a feminist and it rocks."
I am a feminist, that happens to be male, and gender equality rocks. Gender isn't just a "women's issue". Men are also paying the price for our assumptions on gender. What we call masculine and feminine... they are all made up. They are social constructs. I mean really, think about it. How many things in this world are gendered?
Pink is for girls, blue is for boys... how the hell can a COLOR be gendered? Or even the colognes or perfumes we buy. You mean to tell me what scents I smell like, something that is one of my human 5 senses- THAT has a gender? Why? How? Who made this shit up? Why is chin length hair on women considered short, but on a man considered long? How is what I EAT, part of my gender? Do you know how many ads I've seen of women laughing alone, eating salad? There's an entire website for it! Why are my five senses, which are HUMAN traits, being labeled as "masculine/feminine", "male/female", "man/woman"? Even people who use religion to justify the differences in gender, where in the bible does it say, "Man shalt not wear pink." I mean really... these constructs are harmful to women AND men, because we are being pressured to be defined. I am a human being. I have fluidity! I TOO have emotions, and kindness, and nurturing qualities. Women ALSO have aggression, logical minds, and strength.
The only reason we have labels like these in our society is because we think that labels always simplify things. When in reality, these labels do so much more harm then good. Because when you label something, you restrict and limit it. And we all have desires that are "masculine" or "feminine", because they are HUMAN desires. To be told I can't do something because I am man... that just suppresses who we are. All men are emotional, but because they have been told by society so so much that "real men" are not emotional in thousands of different ways, they suppress those emotions and turn them into anger- which men ARE allowed to be in our society. And we wonder why so many men can be so violent and angry. It's not because of any "natural instincts". It's because we are limited in how we perceive men and women. But these are all lies we have been told even since the day were we born.
We label things because we think it adds order to our lives. It is all societal contructs, but without them our world would fall apart. As for feminine and masculine labels, these change over time. Long hair was once common for men and they use to wear skirts. Some cultures still do.
Pink for girls and blue for boys is a new thing. The theory is that it switched with the introduction of color photography. Blue was associated with girls because it is a softer color and was connected to the Virigin Mary. Pink is bold and similar to red which is associated with masculine traits. No reason to think these thing will not change again. But we really need to stop acting like one is better than the other. Nor can we act like they are the same.
I wanted to see if people agree with the feminist movement. but do not label themselves as "feminists".
maybe there is a stereotype to being a feminist, or not enough appeal being one? I only ask the questions.
Oh of course there are stereotypes. I have a degree in Women's and Gender Studies, and a degree in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Studies. When a man claims he is a feminist, typically he gets praised because he's an awesome modern man that believes in equality. But typically when a woman says she's a feminist, people think she's some man-hating lesbian. The concept of being a feminist is, in itself, a paradox.
I think that a large number of feminists wants to achieve the following: For women to have the same rights as men without having the same obligations as men. Which obviously does not lead to equality.
**trying to devils advocate** it's like when the western world constantly sets up charities for peace and the banishment of poverty.
However we still buy Ipads made in sweatshops and start wars in smaller 3rd world countries. Hypocrisy is the purest form.. That's feminism, or perhaps the human condition.
True feminism is alright. Modern day feminism is twisted and just a ploy to hate men and attack women you are jealous of.
True feminism has nothing to do with man bashing.
I am a feminist and love it.
That's what feminism is supposed to be about, but sadly modern feminism has taken a different path.
I am surprised you are a feminist, unless you mean a "real" feminists that do not approve of what the movement has become of today, as I know there are many women like that, which I also agree with.
Feminism is no longer about equal rights. It's about dominating men. Nowadays it's even simpler for women to create a startup catering to women, financed by women, targeting women and whatever. Want to do the same as a man and you can't because other men aren't that supportive. Glass ceiling? Bullshit! If you're talking about existing multinational companies created by men then it's a bit ironic that you claim to be a superwoman who can do the same but because men don't want you couldn't. Where's your genius then? You either are that next Bill Gates or Zuckerberg or you aren't. Men aren't stopping you...
I feel the word now has very.little meaning outside of an academic context. It could mean being for equality or for hating men or anywhere in between. Worse still it has been used by practitioners to mean anything on that spectrum. Giving it very little meaning on its own as a term. I think it is time to give the word a rest.
I do think the modern feminist movement of the 20th century has tended towards excluding male voices and that has in many ways prevented meaningful change. Like it or not both sexs need to agree on change or it just isn't going to happen.
I'm absolutly pro equality. Some feminists mean that and I think those are great. I just don't like the word.
I don't support feminism especially not radical feminism. There should be equality and respect for both genders.
Feminism is merely looking at things through a female perspective. If you've ever put yourself in a women's shoes (figuratively) and examined something from the female perspective, you're a feminist.
"Feminism" is another form of discrimination - feminists don't want equality (that's just what they write on their flags), they are often pro-female and anti-male.
We can't achieve equality by concentrating on just one gender.
1) Why, is because ALL these -ists and -isms, most of which have infiltrated the English language (and other languages) relatively recently, are a political divisive tool (i.e. they create divisions in society). They also often support and / or reinforce other divisive terminology. These also often lead to stagnation of development, progress and thought in human societies.
It's a very old political strategy; divide and conquer. In many modern societies, divide and control, is more felicitous.
2) Simply reword the intention of your thoughts and communication, without using these -ists or -isms. You might be very much surprised on how much better you can communicate with others, as well as learning many new things.
You can sometimes still use the root word, from which the -ist or -ism is derived, but you will often need to find other (better) words, by using a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia.
In your initial comment (above), you could have said something like:
Females who have divided themselves from society, are practicing another form of discrimination - they don't want equality (that's just what they write on their flags). They are often solely and strictly pro-female, but society includes males.
Erm, hey? The irony here is that I am not the poster of this, so the fact that someone else is responsible for this and thats so many have answered seriously, I think people do...
I was applying the NO1CURR to your gender trolling, but I guess that doesn't apply here.
In any case, IIN is a really frustrating place to talk about feminism, because for the most part, people here don't seem to research before posting. We end up with a lot of half baked ideas based on people's impressions on feminism, rather than informed opinions, which results in the same bullshit getting thrown around repeatedly. It's not productive.
Please do not use -ists or -isms.
Please do not use the Archaic term referring to a fictitious nether world.
Thank you.
Feminism isn't really a good term for the movement in my opinion. It seems like the polar opposite to masculinism, which is not the desired goal. Most feminists seem to want equality before the law and equal opportunities. They want equality, that's all.
On the other side of the issue, I disagree with some of the more radical feminists who seem to take equality to an irrational extreme. They equate their quest for equal rights as also a quest for equality totally between the sexes, denying the very real biological differences present (and not just the obvious).