Feminism: Yay or Nay?

"No hate", but I will fervently disagree that taking a side in a situation of inequality is a lack of justice. Really, it's the only way to be just.

As for "there's nothing that can be done to stop people from being sexist," what utter tripe. Appropriate action against sexual harassment, unsafe environments for women, workplace discrimination, pay disparities, legal cases that can veer against real and neutral justice because of gender biases, are all things that can and must be dealt with by law.

I think it's ridiculous anywhere to say that women have enough rights as if it's a limited resource which women have tapped enough of to be deserving of more. Where women face any disadvantage compared to men, then action must be taken to rectify that.

Feminism reaches globally, too. Inequalities in Indian and Nigerian factories can easily be perpetuated from New York or Stockholm with effectively no difference from immediate workplace discrimination. In an age of inextricable economic links between almost every country, it's silly to think that we can limit feminism to a single region and call it a done job, especially when it's not even concluded internally almost anywhere.

 

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I find it difficult to believe that she would be praised, and I, having lived in very progressive areas in Australia and Scandinavia all my life, have always found pockets of the sort of people full of jokes about women being abused by their male partners. Abused women are offered little more respect than abused men in many situations, and the idea that men need more help for abuse would be convincing if women didn't face abuse in larger numbers.*

And I don't think you've looked that deeply into feminism; feminism does address that problem. A man abused by a woman is ridiculed for letting himself be defeated by a women. Disrespect and dismissal for being "defeated" by the perceived weaker sex. In short, the disparagement of femininity leads to problems men face.

I have never seen a serious suggestion that women ought to have more legal rights than men. I have seen plenty of attempts, going up to extreme violence, to derail women's attempts to get even close to the social position men are afforded with.


*at this point, someone will always bring up the argument that women are more likely to come forward, but statistics suggest that even if the rate of men's abuse is doubled (a very generous increase) and the rate for women is left the same, women's abuse still comes out as much higher which I have proven on this forum before only to be dismissed even with two sets of national statistics from Australia and the United States and multiple non-government sources.

 

Yay for feminism, it's still very much needed everywhere in the world. But I do have problems with "feminists" who emphasise women's weakness, physical or otherwise, to just get the better deal in some things. Like obligatory military service.

And I do wish "feminism" was replaced with a more gender-equal term, although it's quite understandable as women have been discriminated too long for their suffering to be dismissed so easily.

 

I would say I'm a feminist yes. Not one of those crazy "MEN SHALL BURN IN HELL!" kind of feminists, I just want a society where everyone gets paid, treated and raised equally no matter what gender they are.

 

When it's about equal rights, not privileged rights. Yay

 

Frankly, that this question is asked is unbelievable. When one side is being oppressed, or otherwise suffering, it is perfectly reasonable, and expected, to take their side. We don't fight for the right of heterosexuals to marry (or not be murdered on the street).

 

Feminism is a lot of noise over nothing. It usually involves a lot of man hating. If there is something it has done, it has exposed rape culture. However, I think someone doesn't have to be a feminist to cause awareness about rape and human trafficking.

Feminism has gone way too far in the Scandanavian countries where men can't even pee while standing up. I'm sure there are many more examples as well.

 

I'm equalist.

 

The thing about feminism is that there is an extremely negative stigma attached to it, and while I am trying to remain unbiased towards the term, I admit that I feel uncomfortable and upset when it comes up, especially since I've been unfortunately exposed to the more extreme side of feminist tumblr (read: female supremacists).

I don't care for a label, but feminism does NOT mean "equal rights for men and women," nor does it mean "the movement to make women better than men"— it means "equal rights for women." Why the hell would it include men? It's feminism, and while women do have some rights that men don't, they are certainly oppressed.

The law, in my country, does treat women and men equally. But society does not. That's what feminism has progressed to. It has progressed to a movement that is attempting to change society's views, not the law (unless the country does not have equal laws).

My two cents, anyway.

 

This has become a concern of mine lately, mostly because of media gossips. They really are nothing more than gossip, but it still grates on my mind. I guess this is where postfeminism starts?

 

I do not call myself feminist, I call myself gender egalitarian, to distance myself from Tumblr feminism essentially, as that is just insanity.

Gender Egalitarian means equality for all genders, and I say all. Thing is, each gender has it's own problems. Women may find themselves subject to workplace inequality, Men may find themselves subject to inequality regarding divorces and child guardianship, Non-binary people may find themselves subject to erasure and bullying for their gender.
I'm not saying all these issues are as bad as each other, I am simply saying that I stand to fight for all of them.

 

I stated it like a fact, but it really isn't. The definition of feminism, I believe, is subjective. I personally believe feminists should not include men's rights, unless it relates to women's rights as well (for example, if a boy was bullied for being feminine).

But, maybe I'm misinterpreting your post. What do you mean?

I prefer "egalitarian" as well, but if I say I'm not feminist, it would imply that feminism is something that views women better than everyone else, which I do not agree with. Therefore, I am a women's, men's, and non-binary people's rights activist.

Or, rather, "passivist"— I don't really talk about it much, but I do get vocal when it's called for.

 

^This.

 

I do believe that women should have the advantages men have as long as it works both ways

 

Think I'm the one who misinterpreted your post. To me, feminism is gender egalitarianism. It's just that it is an outdated term, because only two genders were recognised when it began, and it was women who were discriminated. But I feel that these days, where I live, feminism has shifted the balance to favor women more than men - at least in the minds of so-called "feminists" - and this is what vexes me.