Feminism

This extreme feminism (more like feminazies) even as a small minority is mind blowing to me. As a gay women i even don't identify myself as a feminist. I'd rather call myself egalitarian. Back in the day when fighting for a right to vote and work that was real feminism that i'd stand for. But today this man hating calling catcalling sexual assault and manspreading being the equivalent to satan i can't stand for that. I know some people really mean well and i thank the people who are sane i just personally can't identify with with being a feminist because of what the label represents nowadays(I'm speaking of modern day feminism in the usa real issues like rape and things do need to be addressed)

 

It bugs me that self identified feminists in the west don't speak out more about how women in some parts of world are treated. The impression, whether or not it's true, is that culture trumps basic human rights. I recall about two years ago reading about women in some US city going topless to protest something or another, maybe just the right to go topless...sorry I can't remember the details. Meanwhile I had read the news that same week about female genital mutilation starting to show up in parts of western Europe and the UK. It's probably going on in the US by now too. Why aren't feminists standing up for their sisters in the Islamic countries? Ayaan Hirsi Ali (one of my heroes!) is the only person I can think of who has tried to raise awareness in the west and she is hardly embraced by western feminists.

PS I didn't vote in the poll because the answer is yes and no. I stand for people anywhere that are being screwed out of their civil rights, including women naturally. I don't really like labels so I don't call myself anything...just a dude that gives a damn.

 

Feminist AF...never been a man hater.

This "redefine-feminism-to-fit-the-anti-feminist-agenda" needs to stop. Instead of hating feminism for what it isn't, we should start embracing it for what it is.

Revolution....grrrl style now

 

Alright so here's my two cents. Equality is all good & fine but treatin' the opposite sex ( yep I certainly do know that there's more sexual identification these days than I got fingers & toes but that's all just a load of malarkey.) like they're utter shit & only deserve to be ground under yer boot is well, plain ol' stupid. Ya'll lovely ladies want respect & the chance to do what you want I support that 100%. Ya'll wanna try'n make me feel like horseshit simply for bein' a man? Fuck off......

 

i'm sure at least part of the problem is that, like anything else, the crazies get all the attention and the sane feminists get lost in the crowd. i honestly don't even know what the sane feminists are all about at this point, just because you don't hear about them ever.

 

I wasnt sure if I wanted to wade into this conversation....but I started thinking about Undies post above and how most sane feminists are busy climbing the career ladder or doing whatever they want and reaping the benefits of the feminists who fought for their right to do so in a different time, a different generation

But THEN I thought about a news story I read today, about a woman who lives in a neighboring city who was kidnapped on Tuesday and taken to Myrtle Beach (which appearantly is a fucking cess pool of human trafficking these days) and forced into prostitution until she managed to get away and get help today.

And i thought of my friend's little sister and also another friend's female boss, both of whom were kidnapped while getting in their car and raped and dropped off somewhere days later in the middle of the night naked and beaten. The two cases are possibly related, it happened in the same vicinity and the perpetrators havent been caught

And all this made me think of your statement about cat calling. Cat calling isnt assault but the fact that so many women react so strongly and negatively to it speaks volumes to the ingrained fear and paranoia we carry around every day.

I normally waltz through life happy go lucky, feeling equal to everyone and like I can do whatever I set my mind to. But there's always an underlying fear there too. I dont like to walk anywhere by myself at night. I check over my shoulder constantly when i'm in a sketchy or deserted area. Etc. Even in broad daylight when I walk through a parking lot I have my key between my fingers and facing outward, like most women are taught to do.

And that vulnerability is why I consider myself a feminist. Women have came a long way in western society, it would be so easy to say we dont need feminism anymore. But I think we still do.

Anyways. Didnt mean to go off on a tangent there. But those are my thoughts on the matter

 

I'm traveling and posting from my phone, which always makes real and in depth replies hard, but in a nutshell, modern feminism is about being taken seriously as a victim while also letting g the world know we shouldn't have to BE victims.

If I wear a skimpy outfit and walk through a dark alley and get raped, it's my fault. And that's the attitude modern feminism is at war with. I should be able to wear what I want, where I want, an any circumstance I want, without, A) worrying about being raped, and, B) not having to feel victim shamed f if it does happen.

It's like the current climate of police brutality against African Americans: if a cop shoots a white guy during a routing traffic stop, that's a problem. If a cop shoots a black guy during a routine traffic stop, people start going, "oh, he had priors," "he had coke in the trunk" or whatever justification they can make up to accept the murder of a black man. It's no different than, "oh, she was drunk and asking for it," or, "her top showed cleavage."

 

I agree with you @Meliai

My view of it all is that I don't wish to see any groups marginalized. I find radical feminism to be very polarizing, and not necessarily seeking equality as much as some feminists are seeking to ''conquer'' men. Like most things though, feminism is pretty fluid and it might mean different things to different people.

 

This, this, so much this. We SHOILDNT be taught to do that. Not because it isn't a valuable asset, but because it's 2018 in the USA and we shouldn't HAVE to be on guard like that.

No you know why I'm on the opposite side of the gun debate than you

 

@Meliai I completely agree that we should be focusing on the important issues such as rape and all different forms of physical assult I'm more so speaking of the real extremest who put men down for conplementing them in a nicer way or opening a door for them or manspreading. The real definition of feminism I'd guess I'd associate with but what the smaller minority that has been shown on the media as of late has given it a bad name so it's hard for me to associate with it like i said I'd consider myself an egalitarian

 

thanks neo, that does make sense.

 

You know as much as I hate guns, even I have considered getting one before for this reason. And i've been encouraged by every important male in my life to get one. So i get you

 

No...I just meant I like to feel gangsta

In all seriousness though, it's not something I ever want to have to use, but, man...I exhale easier just knowing it's in my purse.

 

Yeah i get this too. Unfortunately extremists have a bad habit of ruining it for everyone.

But to be fair i've honestly never came across someone I would call an extreme feminist. Maybe its because of where I live, I dunno. But i've never met anyone who has ruined the term feminism for me so i'll proudly wear the badge

 

You're lucky then and I'm happy you feel confident enough to call yourself a feminist I just don't have that☺

 

I agree with what noserider is talking about, but I don't consider myself a feminist because, as I understand it, men are not included in that equation. Why you say? I haven't got the answers but I think it has to do with a patriarchy and because many of the women feminists aim to serve are victims of the behaviors of some men.

 

I've noticed you and I seem to be the only two HF members who DON'T know any man-hating extremest Nazi feminists.

Spooky...

 

What are you saying exactly? There are definitely male feminists and they are very much welcome. World could use more of the them

 

I guess I'm worried about acceptance. I suppose I'm fine with identifying as a feminist online. In the classroom/at the dinner table, not so much... What can I say? I'm a coward.

 

And you live in libtardville lol, you think you would have ran into a few by now out there in that liberal californeyeaye