re: feminism

Partly because of a couple of threads/posts elsewhere, I'm wondering how guys actually feel about feminism. It's seeming to me that a few are very opposed to and very vocal about it, but I hope that they're unrepresentative, but I'm wondering how everyone else feels.

I'm doing a poll but I'd prefer people to post about it in a way as I know it's not a black-and-white issue.

 

Feminism in the equal rights form I'm all for and is brilliant. But I have to admit I get a bit peeved when I hear people saying "all men are dicks" , it's obviously not representative of the whole movement or even 99% of the movement. Still winds me up a bit though.

 

there's no "good on some points, bad on others" option. obviously i'm not indifferent, but i'm not all good or all bad. i tend to pick and choose.

 

I just said good, because as far as I'm concerned feminism is attempting equal rights for men and women. It's just certain parts of the movement that annoy me.

 

if you ever noticed theres only a smllsmall grup of anti feminists they scream and yell alot make alotta niose
but they are all basicly screwed up
the 2 i can think of both (if they arent the samne dude) live with womewn who ae overbearring and controlling
and the anti fem dudes are just pissed off at theyre own weakness and inability to gain any power in theyre lives and relationships

 

Depends, what are you thinking are the bad points?

I guess the problem is that people tend to see whatever they need to in feminism. If someone wants to hate it, they'll dig out dinosaurs like Andrea Dworkin, who preached a kind of radical feminism that hasn't evolved since the 60s and wasn't even particularly popular then. Meanwhile, there's more reasoned feminists like Hélène Cixous who, even at their angriest at us dudes, still make a lot more sense.

 

And I guarantee those men won't say they think feminism was a bad thing (even though they resent it totally), just that it "went too far".

 

well, there's a lot of unfairness that happens when theings are being shaken up, and innocent people get the kick in the ass. people who never did anything to anyone. automatic custody of children, no say in how to raise those children (because they came from her body ) and the general degredation of our brothers.

on the other hand, i feel that women do in fact need protection from the piggery of certain males who've too long gotten away with abuses towards women with little social or legal recourse. the problem is that in the pursuit of that protection, RIDICULOUS standards have been put in place that don't allow for any leeway in human social interaction. a MOOD can strike a woman (who has no scuples whatsoever, very much like the actual pigs who are running around) and automatically her word is more valid because she's a helpless female. that's just unfair.

alimony? yeah, right. that's fair. get a fucking job. child support? okay, but be more fair in the allocation of father's rights. if he isn't beating you up, be fucking fair. community property? yup, i'm okay with that. marriage is a legal partnership. however, if she's a sleazy adulterer, or if he is, that's a breach of contract and should be viewed accordingly. fair's fair.

there's a lot of things. i've seen women get away with some really fucked up shit. but i've seen men do the same. bits and pieces, people. men are not the enemy.

 

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That's often a problem, unfortunately. There's a lot in culture which is male-biased without it being anyone's fault exactly; it becomes a self-perpetuating thing. Similarly, there are knock-on effects of equality. Often the majority will profit from inequality without doing anything, simply by virtue of being in the dominant group. Depending on what the inequality is, it may be that for equality to be achieved, one group has to come down in the world while the other goes up, in order for them to meet in the middle. Economics would be the obvious one here, but in terms of child-rearing, for instance, there are problems in that very often there is less of an option for a lone parent to "just get a job".

 

sure, but in joint custody, dad is hardly staying home while mom works to pay her half of the upkeep. usually. but i wasn't referring to child support, i was referring to alimony payments.

 

Yeah, I'm a little torn on it tbh. For every loving father who desperately wants to lavish his kids with love and attention, there's a fuckload more who want as little to do with them as possible. The law is about forcing them to take responsibility. I guess my point is, working with the law, to establish a fairer system, is far better than reacting violently/aggressively against anyone involved in establishing the law.

 

absolutely. my dad never wanted anything to do with us, except for my one brother. then he wouldn't pay support. to hell with that. mom MADE him. it wasn't outrageous, either.

 

MamaKcita: again, I've found myself agreeing with you, especially about women and 'moods' and being able to get away with things because they're a woman....

One of the interesting laws in texas....PMS is justification for a 'not guilty by insanity' plea for murder.

That makes me very nervous.

 

That is pretty messed up when you think about it.

I mean, most people who are insane don't know that they're insane, right?

Whereas most people who are on their period will have been on their period before, so they'll have a rough idea what it is, right?

So it's far more reasonable to expect the latter to think "oh, wait, I have PMS don't I?" and just stay the fuck away from big knives and stuff than the former, right?

I hope so, anyway.

 

it's only in EXTREME cases. a very small number of women will actually go completely insane. having children makes it worse, as the hormonal shift is pretty extreme. i can't remember what it's called, dysphora something or other. i wonder if it has anything to do with werewolf myths... anyway, my mom went completely out of her mind. it was kinda scary.

 

I say yay feminism for helping to end gender inequality, although at times it's been blinkered when it comes to men that is much less the case these days.
I visit this website every day feministing.com I find what I read in the comments to be the most educational part of it. Plus the debates are more restrained and reasoned than other sites, ahem.

 

I agree with the definition of feminism, but why is it called feminism? I know the extent to which women in the past have been prejudiced against, but since feminism is all about equality it's too ironic to call it feminism. It is also suspicious since many people who think reverse discrimination is a good thing claim to be feminists.

 

I'm not a feminist, racist or sexist person. I'm a 'people-ist'

We're all people, and the longer it takes for us to realize that at the core we're more similar than not as far as basic needs (food, water, shelter, love, social contact, etc) the more crap we're going to have to clean up later on.

 

it's called feminism simply because, before their efforts, it was all for the rights of the female. it was a battle for female rights. hence feminism. whatever you want to call it now, it wasn't a sexist name back when it started.

 

Nope...I miss that kind of feminism.

feminazis, on the other hand....(shudders)

I've had a woman slug me and call me a sexist pig for holding the door open for both her and a guy.

What made it worse was I was coming out that very door, so to me, it was only common courtesy to hold the door for the other people going through.

(shakes head)