Feminism as a name.

OK, this has been something that needed to be addressed for a while.

I, personally, see no reason why it should still be called feminism, rather, I see many reasons why it shouldn't.

Why are people still calling themselves feminists as a way to show that they care about gender equality? If we are to believe the dictionary definition, that it is about gender equality and not simply women's rights, then why is it called feminism and not just gender equality? It seems to me that it's a great disservice that should be shed like an old skin. Please, there's to much gender inequality as it is. The men's gender issues deserves a place on the gender equality table. I'm all for equality, but when you call it feminism, it's not equality. It's favorable bias.

 

I see a reason.

Because most feminists are sexist against men, no matter what they actually claim. The dictionary definition is bullshit.

There needs to be a separate movement for gender equality, that is not focused on any specific gender (whether male or female or trans).
Personally, my opinion is that this should be worked on continually - but will not be able to be fully resolved until after the gay and trans people win their battles.

 

I totally get your point. Though feminism today isn't quite what it used to be. The whole movement was to gain rights and protection for women, gender equality if you will, specifically aimed at the inferior rights that women had. Today it should be gender equality that's addressed, but the term feminism (though no longer politically correct) is still flapping around. I guess what I mean is that it was about womens rights alone. That was once the problem to be addressed. Gender equality is a much nicer way to put it and makes a hell of a lot more sense to me, since that's what we're after. Yeah, sometimes the dictionary sucks.

 

Agree 100%.

 

So do we call ourselves pro-gender equalists instead?

 

I support feminism.

Men who think they're hard done by are pussies.

 

People still call themselves feminists because, believe it or not, women still have quite a ways to go before they are equal. Men are already set at the top and we are still climbing our way up there. So once things are equal, then there will be no need for feminism... but we aren't considered equal yet.

P.S. I and all of my female friends consider ourselves to be feminists and I definitely do not hate men at all. I think that women are also to blame for where we are in society because we put up with being treated like we were less for way too long. Men have only kept women down because women have allowed men to keep them down. Now we need to work together. Anyway, I definitely don't feel like I am better than men just because I'm a woman.

 

Yes, men who have a complex about feminists and their so called extremist views and their exclusive hatred of the male race, are just as bad as the "type" of people they're condemning.

 

You have to think outside of the box. We know what feminism is, but rather than searching for 'rights for women' these days, gender equality is what's sought after. Feminism isn't entirely wrong, but gender equality is about gaining human rights regardless of your gender, be you male, female, both, neither, straight, gay, bi, trans, etc. The list goes on. Even with all that aside, the word 'feminism' literally doesn't suggest anything other than 'women, yay!' where as 'gender equality' is exactly what it says on the tin. Equal rights. It's similar in ways to the transition of acceptability of 'half caste' to 'mixed race'.

 

That doesn't change the fact that we are still climbing the ladder to equality whereas men are sitting up at the top.

I can't wait for the day when feminism will no longer be relevant because we are all equal. But the fact is that we aren't there yet, so feminism is still relevant. And I firmly believe that men that are convinced we all hate men just feel threatened.

Whether it offends people or not, I am going to continue to say "yay women" until we are treated like we are just as good as men. As soon as we get paid the same and get the same respect, then I won't have to anymore.

 

It's only fair to compartmentalize female rights problems, because the issues are clearly far worse on that end, than it is for men.

 

Thank you... and I just want to say again that I have nothing at all against men. I love them a lot actually and I have always had more male friends than female. So it definitely offends me when people immediately think "man-hater" when I utter the word "feminist"

 

It's okay, only men with small penises feel threatened by feminism.

 

Yours must be giant then... congratulations

 

Guess that means I have a giant penis as well. Yay! Okay I'm gonna shut up now :hide:

 

I'm convinced that the pay differences are overstated and the statistics are skewed. I have access to a good bit of demographic info on this, and it's a fact that women average staying with a company fewer years than their male counterparts, mostly due to having children. This lowers the average income of the group. Women are choosing to do this, so I can't blame their employers. Some women will always choose to take years off to raise children, and their careers will not be advancing during that time.

You know what else women do? Those in salaried positions work fewer hours per week (on average) than men in the same jobs. I'm sure that's mostly due to childcare responsibilities. Again, it's a choice that is ours to make. Management is going to reward salaried employees that are the most valuable to the company.

And thinking as a boss, if I really could get women with equal experience and qualifications to do the same work for less money than a man, I would be crazy not to discriminate in favor of women and hire them exclusively. You never see that.

Yes, there are worthwhile battles left to fight, but equal pay in the US is not one of them. That's based on what I've seen in the business world.

 

I see your points and they are definitely true sometimes... but I still think there are situations in which a woman is doing the same job and work the same hours and are still getting paid less than if a man was doing a job.

I'm not saying this happens all the time, but if it is happening at all, then it is still an issue. Maybe not the biggest issue in the world, but still an issue.

 

You are 100% correct.
Read "The Wage Gap Myth" if you're interested.
The main study that is quoted looked at things like "workers in the medical field" - where there are way more female nurses and receptionists.

I really wish a legitimate study on this (or anything else, these days +_+) would be done. I agree with you, that in no case is a person getting paid more or less because of their gender alone acceptable. But I have a question - what about females being hired or accepted into programs to fill the quota of women?
My first day of Java class at community college my teacher told me - "If you wanted to go to CMU, forget it; I've only had two students accepted there my whole career, and both were female. They don't have enough females interested in high tech, so that's all they really look for here."

 

Quota systems are terrible. They produce incompetent graduates, who go out into the world and reinforce negative stereotypes. And those people are set up for long-term failure, which will make them feel bad about themselves.

Give somebody an opportunity to learn? Sure. That's great. But make them earn the degree or the job, like everybody else. The individual has to bring the desire and the intelligence and the effort.

 

I definitely don't agree with quotas or anything. No one should be turned down for a job or anything else because of gender or race. Period. It should be on qualifications, for sure.