Not Feminism
Yyeaah this is a response to a webcomic that I read called “Sandra and Woo”.
They’re thing is funnier, but I had to do something, cuz tumblr does have people who believe this is what feminism is.
It’s not. Feminism is about equality. Really at that point, she should be making the men’s bathrooms smell as nice as the girls bathroom. Cuz seriously, the men’s bathrooms everywhere stink more than the women’s bathrooms.
I don’t like putting the feminist label on myself, but I do believe in equality for all humans, regardless of gender or sexual preferences. Just seems like a good idea is all.
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While I admire and respect your pursuit for equality, I have skepticism that many in the feminist movement today share your desire for it. People tend to forget that party ideologies and movement ideologies are not defined by concrete concepts, but by the majority of folks who have influence within the party/ideology.
A primary example of what I refer to can be seen in the history of the Republican Party. It wasn’t always the party of bigots, homophobes and theocrats it is today. They used to be somewhat level-headed and secular, back during the days of Barry Goldwater. But then Falwell and his “Moral Majority” (A laughable term if I ever heard one, considering the demographic) took over the GOP, and here we are today.
We can say “Feminism means Equality” until we’re blue in the face, but let’s play with a thought experiment for a moment, if everybody that called themselves a Barudist (I’m using a nonsensical term purposefully, to isolate the thought experiment from the situation we are appraising), and we assume that Barudists in the past have typically stood for Civil Rights and Equality, spewed eugenics theories about Ubermencsh and Untermensch, would we really be able to say the movement in our thought experiment is about Civil Rights and Equality? Only someone blinded by Barudist ideology could honestly claim they do.
In the same vein, I have seen folks within the modern arm of Feminism, take up positions that were once used as Strawmen to attack the positions of Second-wave Feminists, and this seems to be a growing trend in my area. People like this used to be ridiculed and made outcasts by the Second-waves, but nowadays, it seems acceptable within the community. Several of my friends, who are Second-waves themselves, don’t understand it, and as I do, see the trend as counterproductive to movements seeking equality, in general.
It’s fine to say “This is not Feminism”, but in order to be taken seriously, you have to defend that claim. The Republican Party didn’t say “This is not Conservatism” nearly enough to dissuade the Evangelicals from taking over the party/ideology, and as a result, “Conservative” now invokes the image of a bigoted theocrat in the minds of the American political zeitgeist. Don’t let the same happen to your movement, stand united with your “silent majority” of actual feminists, and denounce these bigots loudly, else one day you will find them dominating the debate, and yourself marginalized, unable to pursue your political agenda while being taken seriously.
Just speaking from experience, here.
Sincerely,
Publius, a secular conservative sick of the antics of the GOP
Wow I didn’t expect this when I woke up this morning! Thank you for your thoughts!
Really I don’t like to call myself a Feminist, mostly because I don’t think I do a very good job at representing what their thoughts are, however from the feminists that I do know of, they do represent equality, so that’s about all I can say, and all I can try to promote.
For me, inequality is just another form of bullying, so I like to fight against bullying.
As for the feminist agenda…I really couldn’t say anything about it. There are a lot of people who make dumb decisions in any given part of the world, and I really like to stay out of politics, mostly because it blinds people from what’s really important. Human decency. The bettering of oneself not for the sake of being better than others, but just being better than who you were yesterday.
It’s why I don’t like labels. I’m just me, and all I can do is believe in what I believe in.
I can understand the hesitancy to use labels. I often find myself questioning what it means to be “Conservative”, and even though my answer most often comes out differing from what the majority that choose to go by that label would define it as, I suppose I’m just dealing with an outdated definition. In the end, I choose to associate with the label, because despite how far we have drifted from our founding system, some changes for worse, some for the better, I still believe that the base values that inspired the American Revolution (Namely self-governance, equality of opportunity, personal responsibility, and the system of Federalism) are the best values to live one’s life by. That, and I think one would be hard-pressed to say that the federal government does not have too much power today. (I speak, of course, of such bipartisan scandals such as the abuse of Executive Powers, Assassination by UAV, unprecedented domestic spying via NSA, etc., both of which have occurred under both Republican and Democrat administrations.)
As for political action, I won’t knock your choice to sit on the sidelines. It’s just not an action (Inaction?) I can partake of myself. I see it as partially the reason why politics is so corrupt today, the inaction of the constituency. If people do not go out and organize to keep their elected representatives in line, there are plenty of special interests willing to keep those elected officials in line for them and their interests, instead. It may sound cliche’, but in American Politics, the system really is “Govern or Be Governed”, and I like to have at least a marginal form of influence upon the system, instead of letting Washington Fatcats make decisions about my life, without my input. Different strokes for different folks, though, I suppose.
In the end, we all have to do what we think is right. For you, that obviously means pursuing equality through the means you deem necessary. For me, it means seeking equality through the means I see as necessary. I would say that Politics brings out the best in people, but without a qualifier, it would obviously be a blatant lie. However, I believe that through civil discussion, clinical debate over policy, and by keeping a level head in the face of differing opinions, we become better people through our discussions and experiences. In short, it’s an exercise in Diplomacy, which strengthens empathy (The basis of our morality), forces us to look at issues from a differing viewpoint (thus discouraging what I call “All About Me-syndrome”), and reminds us that no matter how similar we think we may be to our neighbor, there will always be disagreements. It is our responsibility, however, to resolve those differences as civilly and as effectively as possible, with the least amount of harm and bloodshed to others.
Keep that level head about you, Sam. In an age and day where the country is becoming increasingly polarized, such ability to look at things from differing points of view will become an increasingly valuable talent. I bid you good day. 🙂
Yours Truly,
Publius
P.S. I have taken note of the webcomic, and I must admit I am intrigued from what I see this far. I got linked here from the Sandra and Woo webcomic, for what it’s worth. I’ll be adding one more webcomic onto my list of ones to keep track of reading, it seems. Keep up the good work.
i have to agree there alot of things going around that portrays that feminism means dominate sex those people that preach men are nothing more than servants to there will yadyadyad..
when it in fact feminism is has always been about equality for both sexes whilst my wife and me understand each other and sometimes i don’t understand somethings when it comes to seeing females that are as she puts it on estrogen high i just look and say she setting back the feminism movement she{ i know its not a movement isn’t its how i perceive when a female that goes all out to put down males any turn}
i can thank my wife helping me understand it little better, but then again i always been open to understanding more between the war sexes..
i have to agree there alot of things going around that portrays that feminism means dominate sex those people that preach men are nothing more than servants to there will yadyadyad..
when it in fact feminism is has always been about equality for both sexes whilst my wife and me understand each other and sometimes i don’t understand somethings when it comes to seeing females that are as she puts it on estrogen high i just look and say she setting back the feminism movement isn’t she when i ask that to her{ i know its not a movement isn’t its how i perceive when a female that goes all out to put down males any turn}
i can thank my wife helping me understand it little better, but then again i always been open to understanding more between the war sexes..
I listened to an article on the news a couple months ago talking about feminism. As you know Sam, but for those who don’t, Canada has a lign in it saying “In all thy son’s command.” The full quote would be “True patriot love, in all thy Son’s command” With religion put on the back shelf, it hides the fact that what it’s referring to is our charming personality. Biblically speaking, Jesus, “Son of God” gave us two comandments: Love thy neighbour as you love yourself” and “Love others as I have loved you” (Unconditionally) This, translated into Canadian means “Good manners”
A couple of months ago, there was another political attempt by a group associated with the Woman’s Liberation, a group of proclaimed Feminists, to strike this passage from our National Anthem calling it Sexist. What was interesting is that there was discovered a pattern that when select female writers calling themselves “Feminists” write a book slandering male perspectives in their view of Feminism, this accusation against our Anthem resurfaces before being easily dismissed.
I am not saying that Feminism is wrong. I believe Feminism should be define as a woman’s pride to be a female. Just like Male ego (Cause we don’t get a cool title for it) is pride in being a male. However I see it a lot, even personally, where people use this as an excuse to be sexist. I’ve met a woman who used it to try to excuse her actions. She was french and her report was conjugated in the female verbs. In other words, Chairs are considered a female noun. Tables are Male nouns. They just are cause it sounds better mainly. However she made every noun female, every verb female.. But the teacher couldn’t let her pass as it was spelling mistakes. She called him a sexist male chauvinistic pig for doing so.
The point I am getting at is that with all this extremism perpatrated under the guise of “Feminism”, teamed up with the lack of “Masculism” being a politically correct term, all to hide sexism, it’s easy to see where misconseptions are born. I myself read Sandra And Woo and found that comic to be a satirical piece on the extreme views and how silly they can be.
Men can’t be feminists, by feminists standards, without degrading themselves to being a dog of female, and I don’t think that women should degrade themselves either. Thats why if asked to classify myself, I would never use a term given but rather coin the term Equalarian. Or simplify it by saying “Sorry, I’m Canadian” haha
I could be wrong, obviously, but that’s my take on it
in my opinion… if feminism wants equality, they should call it equalism… because…it does not sound as they want equality…(anyway… im actually pro-feminism, in the equality objective kind of feminism, instead of the women is superior kind of feminism… but i cant count between them, because… a) there is not a single thing i could do to achieve equallity in my country at least… we might not be an ultra religious misoginistic country, but discrimination goes both ways here, so i would actually be the onlyone really doing anythinh… and b) the name kind of puts me off… lately people only know the “bad branch of the tree” so people would think im just some kind of masochistic idiot looking for a women to kiss her ass…)
on the other hand… lots of feminist that “really look for equalism”, think that they deserve to be treated equally in everything but, the things they are used to be treated different… like this girl i know… who got offended because her boyfriend wanted to split the bill at a restaurant… i mean… i do pay when i invite my girlfriend, i dont think its wrong… but, SHE is always talking about getting paid the same, working on the same kind of jobs… but she would never be working on a coal mine… and men still have to invite her everything with an equal salary…