Feminism Thoughts Thread`

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From my side of the Atlantic, I find American feminism quite peculiar.
Over here, in Germany, feminism is certainly too about equal pay for equal work, but it's much less about, say, female representation in the media.
And I think that's in part due to the state and social structures - here, women demand more money for child-leave, and more government subsidies for children. Very real things.
In the US, I have the impression these "socialist" things can't really be demanded - equality in the US means everyone being equal in competition for jobs etc. - but you just can't make a pregnant women equal to a man. Asking them to compete will not produce equality. So in the US, rather than demanding real things like government subsidies, the argument has moved to the level of representation... are there enough strong female characters in Blade Runner 2049 (technically, yes) - do they get equal screen time (no)...

over here, no one cares as long it's not overly and overtly sexist. and if it is, it'll just be ignored.

... 1 out of every 5 college women is sexually assaulted. Of course, feminists (including myself) are horrified by this. The conversation tends to center around why this is happening and what we can do to change it.

Social representation is a big deal. Women are still being objectified which contributes to rape culture. People like to say that rape culture doesn’t exist, but with 1 out of 5 college women being assaulted, it clearly does.

Until this issue is resolved, feminism will be stuck in a rut.When women stop allowing themselves to be objectified, then the objectification will stop. For example: While removing the swimsuit and evening gown competitions from beauty pageants is a good start, why not eliminate beauty pageants altogether?

(Maybe because there are women who believe that they can achieve success only by exploiting their personal appearance ... ?)

Feminism is complicated. On the one hand, some feminists seek equality through self-improvement, which puts responsibility for the movement on individual women, but does little for women in general. On the other hand, some feminists seek equality through legislation, which benefits women in general, but does little to motivate women to do much for themselves. On the gripping hand, women will never be seen as equal to men until men see themselves as equal to women.

We are concerned about very real things over here. For instance, 1 out of every 5 college women is sexually assaulted. Of course, feminists (including myself) are horrified by this. The conversation tends to center around why this is happening and what we can do to change it.

Social representation is a big deal. Women are still being objectified which contributes to rape culture. People like to say that rape culture doesn’t exist, but with 1 out of 5 college women being assaulted, it clearly does.

We want to increase the knowledge, understanding, and prevention of this very real, multifaceted issue. It’s certainly not as straightforward as “the vote” was, but it’s just as important.

I’ll get down from my soapbox now.

Where is over here?

Why does it happen?
Sense of entitlement.

What can be done about it?
Lorena Bobbit therapy

Every women does not need to commit this vigilante crime. All we need is a few well publicized incidents on a semi continual basis to lead to a drastic reduction of the problem.

Where is over here?

Why does it happen?
Sense of entitlement.

What can be done about it?
Lorena Bobbit therapy

Every women does not need to commit this vigilante crime. All we need is a few well publicized incidents on a semi continual basis to lead to a drastic reduction of the problem.

We are concerned about very real things over here. For instance, 1 out of every 5 college women is sexually assaulted. Of course, feminists (including myself) are horrified by this. The conversation tends to center around why this is happening and what we can do to change it.

Social representation is a big deal. Women are still being objectified which contributes to rape culture. People like to say that rape culture doesn’t exist, but with 1 out of 5 college women being assaulted, it clearly does.

We want to increase the knowledge, understanding, and prevention of this very real, multifaceted issue. It’s certainly not as straightforward as “the vote” was, but it’s just as important.

I’ll get down from my soapbox now.

Some women intentionally objectify themselves because they think expressing their sexuality is “empowering.”

...well thank goodness feminists come along to tell them how wrong they are...

I'm not entirely sure how serious you are in posting this. Facetious or not, you should know that it really poisons these discussions. Imagine the other side giggling about acid attacks.

We are concerned about very real things over here. For instance, 1 out of every 5 college women is sexually assaulted. Of course, feminists (including myself) are horrified by this. The conversation tends to center around why this is happening and what we can do to change it.

Social representation is a big deal. Women are still being objectified which contributes to rape culture. People like to say that rape culture doesn’t exist, but with 1 out of 5 college women being assaulted, it clearly does.

We want to increase the knowledge, understanding, and prevention of this very real, multifaceted issue. It’s certainly not as straightforward as “the vote” was, but it’s just as important.

I’ll get down from my soapbox now.

There never will be complete equality, I agree. A part of the problem is that feminists can't agree on key issues. Some women intentionally objectify themselves because they think expressing their sexuality is "empowering".

Another issue is religion. I was raised fundamentalist, though, so my emphasis on this is probably greater than it needs to be.

“As two of the researchers who conducted the Campus Sexual Assault Study from which this number was derived, we feel we need to set the record straight. Although we used the best methodology available to us at the time, there are caveats that make it inappropriate to use the 1-in-5 number in the way it’s being used today, as a baseline or the only statistic when discussing our country’s problem with rape and sexual assault on campus.


First and foremost, the 1-in-5 statistic is not a nationally representative estimate of the prevalence of sexual assault, and we have never presented it as being representative of anything other than the population of senior undergraduate women at the two universities where data were collected—two large public universities, one in the South and one in the Midwest.

Second, the 1-in-5 statistic includes victims of both rape and other forms of sexual assault, such as forced kissing or unwanted groping of sexual body parts—acts that can legally constitute sexual battery and are crimes. To limit the statistic to include rape only, meaning unwanted sexual penetration, the prevalence for senior undergraduate women drops to 14.3%, or 1 in 7 (again, limited to the two universities we studied).”

Script:

Are American college campuses “rape cultures?” Are they dangerous places where sexual assaults against women are happening at an alarming rate?

According to many gender activists, academics and politicians, the answer is yes. Here’s what the Vice-President of the United States, Joe Biden, said in 2014.

“We know the numbers: one in five of every one of those young women who is dropped off for that first day of school, before they finish school, will be assaulted, will be assaulted in her college years.”

Let’s take a closer look at the Vice President’s claim.

Rape is a horrific crime, and rapists are rightfully despised. We have strict laws against sexual assault that everyone wants to see enforced. But, while rape is certainly a very serious problem, there is simply no evidence of a national campus rape epidemic, and there’s certainly no evidence that sexual violence is a “cultural norm” in 21st century America. In fact, rates of rape in the US are very low and they’ve been declining for decades. Why would it be any different on a college campus? Where, then, does the 1 in 5 rate that Vice President Biden cites come from?

Well, it turns out it comes from a study conducted over the Internet at two large universities, one in the Midwest and one in the South. The survey was anonymous, no one’s claims were verified and terms were not clearly defined. In round numbers a total of 5,000 women participated. Based on their responses, the authors, not the participants, determined that 1,000 had been victims of some type of “non-consensual or unwanted sexual contact.”

And voila! From one vaguely worded, unscientific survey we suddenly arrive at “a rape culture on college campuses.” Tellingly, the study authors have since explicitly stated that it is “inappropriate” to use their survey to make that claim.

Much more comprehensive data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) estimates that about 1 in 52.6 college women will be victims of rape or sexual assault over the course of four years. That’s far too many, but it’s a long way from 1 in 5.

The same BJS data also reveal that women in college are safer from rape than college-aged women who are not enrolled in college.

But the truth doesn’t serve the purposes of feminist activists or vote-seeking politicians. Lies work much better. And the 1 in 5 claim is tantamount to a lie. Here are just a few examples of what this lie has wrought.

At Scripps College, Pulitzer-Prize winning commentator George Will was disinvited from giving a speech. The reason? He had dared to question the “rape culture” mantra in a column he wrote.
At the all-women Wellesley College, students demanded that the administration remove a campus sculpture of a sleepwalking man wearing only underpants. Why? Well, because the image of a nearly naked male could "trigger" memories of sexual assault for victims.

According to Harvard Law professor, Jeannie Suk, students now ask teachers not to include questions about rape law on exams for fear that such disturbing questions might cause them to perform less well.

And at Brown University, students were so traumatized by a debate on the subject of campus sexual assault that activists organized a “safe room” equipped with coloring books, Play-Doh, calming music, and a video of frolicking puppies.

Yeah. I grew up in a fundamentalist religion that is pretty lousy as far as women are concerned: men are the head of the household, women should be in subjection to men, only men are allowed to hold positions in the church, a woman should only leave her husband in cases of “extreme physical abuse,” and I could go on, but I’ll stop now because I’m getting pissed off.

I put such an emphasis on religion because of the extreme one I was raised in. However, I think a lot of religions are based on misogynistic texts, so they probably still have, at least some, subtle sexism at their core. But once again, it’s not as big of a deal to most people as it is to me since my situation was more extreme.

Did I answer what you were asking? If not, let me know. I have a bit of a headache and am not thinking especially clearly.