Are you a feminist?
Reply #90 - June 11, 2014, 02:05 PM
I think like a lot of people, having equal rights is something we all pretty much agree on.
In the Western world, at least, this battle is already done. Pretty much everyone agrees with it.
The political, economic, and social changes have pretty much taken place.
This is not to say you'll never run into a sexist man. Just like men will probably run into a sexist women. Cultural gender roles, stereotypes... will be there. I'm talking about the grand changes at the political and general cultural level.
Claiming yourself to be a feminist in this equal capacity is like like me saying I'm an abolitionist. Yeah, it is technically true, non-controversial, and provides a moral identity. I am against slavery, but it's not particularly relevant to the issues of race in this day and age.
These are the fights of feminism today:
Ensuring that women make up X% of certain jobs. There are real issues here in terms of culture, old boys club, mentorship, meritocracy, group preference.
Just as a quick example, making the work environment more polite and womenized is not about equality. You're simply replacing a 'male' culture workspace which in the stereotype is brash, rude, argumentative, competitive... with one of stereotyped 'female' culture (polite, passive aggressive, bureaucratic...). I'm not here to say which is better or worse. I'm simply saying making such changes in the workplace is not about 'equality'.
Reproductive issues are another big one.
If a women is at home taking care of her kids, what happens at work?
Are the same opportunities there for men to stay at home?
How about single people or more traditional husbands who might work harder at work, as they don't have kids. Should they be working harder and be more relied upon, and yet not given any preference in terms of pay/advancement?
Violence against women.
When is consent there in terms of drinking, partying, social media comments....
Calling yourself a feminist today generally implies that you are on the very pro-woman side of all these issues... and that does tend to mean being against men, as these issues are not as easily clear cut as the old equal rights debate. And as such, it does tend to have that polarizing effect. I personally prefer the term, I'm for equal rights.
Topic: Are you a feminist?