Discussing feminism

OK, it's great! Can't add more atm. ...other people are more informed on it than me that's for sure.

 

They have done good things. Fighting for gender equality is a good thing, however, I hate the name.

"Feminism" puts the focus on women. But if they are fighting for equal rights for men as well, shouldn't the name imply that? I also think this name is inviting more of these "Rad feminists" or "feminazis" who want to overthrow men. And the name, along with these people are making many men (and even women) dislike feminists and/or the act.

Obviously, a different name won't make everything perfect. But I feel it will be better.

 

By definition I'm a feminist. I just want equal right for everyone no matter what.
The thing with this is that nowadays calling your self a feminist makes people think you are one of those SJW from tumblr who do nothing but bitch about how the patriarchy control everything or some crap like that.

 

Its a name coming from a long history.

And all in all, there are fundamentalists in other groups, too.

It could be seen with less emotion and more common ground .

Since feminism seeks gender equality, it must necessarily include men's liberation because men are also harmed by sexism and gender roles.

This all ties in with fair sharing of resources, equal rights and transparent participation.
All on a peaceful basis. "There is enough for everyones needs but not for everyones greed"

Which is a benefit for everyone.

Furthermore its imo a change from a materialistic view to a more inclusive, holistic view, where the intuitive/emotional part is integrated.

Its a very necessary part of the puzzle.


(*hug*)

 

would you change the NAACP's name because it only focuses on people who aren't white and there are black supremacists?

 

Personally I think most feminists have lost their way. They went from equality to matriarchal superiority which is just as bad a patriarchal superiority.

I'm all for social rights, but these Social Justice Warriors are really pissing me off. They make real problems look like jokes.

 

I'm very surprised to hear the word "most" included.
It seems like a general consensus to state something like that.
Its definetly a steretype like all lesbians are butch.

There are women and men hard working to reach more benefits for single parents, educating young women on their rights especially in partnerships, and much more.

Its not all rosy out there, and those are real problems to real people.
I find such statements condescending.

"Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies that share a common stated aim: to define, establish, and defend equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women."

This is the heart of the problem. People are not included in processes.
This leads automatically to inequality and to decisions which do not have the best of interests of all people at heart.
Instead of accepting that there is a real problem where people are not included in political and other processes, its an attitude of go play with your toys.

This is a marginalization of women.

 

My female friend "I'm not a feminist because I don't really care about this stuff much and I wont kill to get my way and I think we have already improved heaps so its fine".

You should have seen my face, even most of our male friends are feminists because they can see that everything isn't equal as it should be.

 

"Hating the LGBT rights community"? Well I never said I hated feminists. Just the name.

And that is different. When it comes to orientation, LGBT really is, for the most part, the only ones discriminated against.
Men are discriminated against very frequently as well, not just women. For example, half of the apartments (possibly more) in my city only take women. Very frustrating.
Not trying to argue who has it worse or anything like that. All I'm saying is... Both are discriminated against in certain ways. By many people. But I never see someone be denied any kind of service just for being heterosexual or cis gender. That's the difference. The way I see it.

 

Yeah honestly I hear a lot of antifeminists claim this but never have I heard anything even remotely like this said by feminists.

As for the term feminism, it needs to remain as such because the continued persecution of women is still a problem. Women still have less institutional power, less economic power. It's not that men don't have problems, but even most of men's problems go back to old patriartical standards, such as the idea of men being the bread earners, the idea that a man being at all feminine makes them bad, the idea that women are inherently weak and men strong, the idea of a strict gender binary and gender roles. Feminism seeks to eliminate these gender roles, since most of them are based on the idea that women and femininity are inferior.
Truth is, the worst thing you can call a man in our society is a woman or a gay man. The worst thing a man can be according to our society is similar to a woman.

 

I was at least for a time known as one of EC's most prominent feminists, although I have retreated from discussing the field of topics on EC for a number of reasons:

1. Almost all men I have engaged with on this field of topics have painted me as evil and behaved as though I represent and believe every stupid argument they ever read on Tumblr.

2. Even when I have reminded these men that I don't hold the particular views they find objectionable (that most academic feminists, meaning, with published books, or regular paying positions at prominent blogs or news media websites don't hold by the way), they just explain it away as "I'm one of the few good feminists they know."

3. Almost all trans women have been distrustful of me from the moment that I say I'm a feminist, even though I'm regularly on the front lines of EC defending trans and genderqueer members against transphobia from the cisgender members. I resent this extremely.

4. A substantial minority of users on EC who discuss this field of topics think that "a lot of people post objectionable stuff like this on Tumblr, therefore most feminists think this way" is a way of proving what most feminists actually think. The level of emotional response is high, and the level of rational engagement on this field of topics is extremely low, and the level of independent research is extremely low.

5. I have better things to do with my time--like practice martial arts, shooting, and learning computer security so I can defend people in the real world--including, I might add, people like the ones who treat me poorly for my politics, than to listen to you guys dehumanizing me for what I believe, which happens to be based in real data, scientific studies, and a considerable range of personal anecdotes from my own and others' experiences.

Adrienne

 

About #3 the problem lies with TERFS. TERFS are trash, and fortunately not usually held up very high in feminist communities now, but in the '70s they were quite harmful to transwomen looking for a safe space. I feel it is my duty as an inclusionist feminist to call transphobia out when I see it, as is the job of every inclusionist feminist.
About the whole tumblr thing though, even within tumblr most of the people you are complaining about are either A) troll blogs or B) not very well liked. They exist of course, but they are not all of tumblr.
Feminism isn't a hive mind. Tumblr isn't a hive mind. Feminists taken seriously in the community will disagree with each other on certain issues. That's important to note.

 

I'm aware of that; however, as mentioned, I've also been known as defender of ECs trans community as well. So it's frustrating to still have people saying they don't trust femininists, despite the fact that I'm genderqueer myself and someone who sticks her neck out for them, and some of those members have seen me do it.

I hope I don't seem dismissive here, but I don't care about a single political view expressed on Tumblr, even if it agrees with my point of view. My reason is simple: anybody can go and create a blog on Tumblr. On the other hand, not everybody can work for Feministing. Not everybody can work for Jezebel.

I listen to professional femininsts. The ones who write books and have studied the topics of discrimination and violence through the accepted methods of academic research.

I don't think Tumblr is without value. Because it's open to everyone, people are able to come on and write about their experiences. Some of these may be fake or real but exaggerated, but I think in the main, people are authentic, and I can trust those are people's real experiences. However, I think that's the important value to place on Tumblr. It's where people talk about their experiences. But it's not a place we should look to on deciding what just social policy should be or even how to build social movements for liberation.