Why do feminist have such a bad rep?

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I saw this question on Yahoo answers and just had to answer with the best answer I possibly could, and then the guy singles out my answer and says that "no matter how you dress feminism, it is still as bad as racism"... Ugh... people frustrate me so much... Anyways, here is the question: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 631AAt3jBM On Yahoo Answers I am MayTsu, and the answer by MayTsu is mine.

It's been a long time since women have had to fight to vote, or hold property, or go to college anywhere and hold any job they are able. So to these people (men mostly, but some women too), a feminist is NOT seeking equality because they already HAVE it. So if they don't want to be equal, they must only want to be superior. See the logic there?

Painting a rabid misandrist masculine-looking lesbian as the average feminist is as old as color TV and impossible to avoid on Married With Children and other shows. And the unspoken sentiment is always "Look, you WON, alright? Women can be doctors and lawyers and soldiers and whatever, so stop complaining, OK?"

But, to be fair, the modern day women's movement is partially to blame as well. "If you think girls can't be firefighters, you're a sexist," is a fair statement. "If you don't support abortions for teenage girls without parental consent, you're a sexist," is less so. "If you don't think all sex between men and women is a kind of rape, you're a sexist," is just going too far.

Like it or not, the extremists represent the feminists for many, just like suicide bombers represent Islam for all too many. All you can do to solve it is to just be one of the reasonable ones.

I hate rubbish like that. Racism is discrimination, feminism is actually an attempt to redress it. I wish that person would study history and read a book to find out more before he opens his mouth. (Erm, starts typing.)

I agree. Not everything presented to young girls as empowerment actually is. Anyway, it's a bit of a moot point to me. Why are these still people complaining about feminism when it has so far to go and is so discredited? Feminism has a bad rep and is very misunderstood. A lot of young people don't really know much about it because they didn't grow up during the first few waves, and think it's being militant and hating men.

Extremists don't speak for me. The current issues I would be more concerned with are-

Men and women being paid the same wage for the same job.
Women having choices and control over their own bodies, not the Church or the Government deciding what women are allowed.
Addressing sexual harassment and domestic violence.
Making child care available and supporting vulnerable mothers.

Feminism isn't domination. It's an attempt to level the playing field, because there've been major milestones but there's still a way to go.

Feminism has a bad reputation because it is not 'ladylike'. It disrupts the status quo.
People that think that there is no need anymore for 'feminism' because everything is 'OK, now' have only a parochial experience rather than factoring in a world of female inequality.

I watch women walk into situations they take for granted because older women have bludgeoned glass ceilings with our bare skulls to give them that chance. Yay! The struggle proceeds through history.


Merle

^ Well said.
I hate it when young women say "I'm not a feminist BUT..."

Well, I am a feminist, been so since before I accepted my own transexuality (and yes men can be feminists, just not in a more traditional sense). My own belief is exactly what I said in my response on there. Feminism is about being one's true self regardless of what people say about it. It is about women being who they truly are, and not letting oppression stop them. It just so happens that the earlier feminists had to fight for the right to be themselves, and as for a voting example, I have an opinion, and I want to share my opinion, to not vote would be impeding on my sense of who I am. Just as all other groups that were oppressed, it is important to remember where we came from, because at any point, history could repeat itself, and for that, I view antifeminism as the biggest threat.

Most feminists display severe misandry(hatred for men) and aren't interested in equality. When it comes to jobs that men are inherently better at, feminists demand equality and then celebrate when the entry requirements are lowered for women, but remain stationary for men. When it comes to jobs that women are inherently better at, feminists will claim that men should not do such jobs.

When a couple split up, in many countries the mother will get custody of the children, regardless of the actual situations involved.

Many jobs aren't a good fit for someone who might not be able to work for 2 - 3 months because they are pregnant. Which makes a man more valuable for said job.


Of course, and if my 4 year old son wishes to sell his kidney he should be allowed. If i wish to have a bomb surgically implanted into me, i should be allowed as well...


The laws regarding sexual harassment and domestic violence are actually skewed towards females. A man has a lot lower sucess rate when attempt to use such laws. This is the opposite of equality.

I'm not against women working, or even getting paid more than me in some instances. It's my belief that men and women are not equal. I mean this in no positive or negative way. I understand why the law treats both sexs as being even across the board, because it's the easiest way to ensure equality for everyone. I just wish people would be judged on their own personal abilities instead of arbitary quota's and structures to enforce a fake pseudo-equality for everyone. If someone campeigns for equality, then they should do so from both poles, instead of a unipolar approach. Because unipolar approachs, wether it is feminism or anti-feminism are always dangerous and unfair.

^^ I find most discussions of 'feminism' runs onto the rocks when someone thinks that 'feminism' equates into 'equality'. It seems to me that 'seperate but equal' didn't work in other social experiments, so why would it work in 'feminism' ?

Feminism is given a bad rep because alot of people dislike the idea that females can do the same jobs males can do but in reality, women were there all along and alot weren't even given credit for scientific discoveries only just now did the first female pilots who fought in war when it wasn't considered appropriate are being recognized but still women scientists and inventors aren't even brought up in school except for one.

In India and China, female infantcide is still on the rise. Middle east, honor killings and death to females for being raped as it's considered a disgrace to the family etc...

Women still have struggles despite what Merle has to say oh kind gracious lady who thinks she personally had anything to do with women's rights. Give examples. I don't recall anyone named Merle in the news standing up for women's rights.

The problem with any movement is, people come in to distort what the movement is for, twist up everything to suit their own agenda. The gay rights movement decided to allow Nambla to be apart of their movement to make a bigger tent just like all movements try but that is where it goes wrong. If the gay rights movement didn't kick Nambla out of it, their movement would look like a joke and not taken seriously.

The autism rights movement is not immune to this either. There's always going to be some advocates that don't really have autism claim that they do, twist up the rules and make themselves out to be doing something good but it's really all about their own attention seeking and speaking for others. Then later rub it in others faces saying "Oh yeah well what did you do? Look at what I did." Kind of like the same guilt Merle tries to present to degrade younger women. Jealous of younger women Merle?

^ Ouch @ Micho and Lisaanjjoell! Keep things objective/constructive?

That's well said too.
Yeah with the "I'm not a feminist BUT", I wish young women (or anybody) would appreciate the hard work that was done on their behalf. Anyway, no social movements are perfect, and men and women will never be exactly equal. It's more about addressing the grosser imbalances as far as possible.

I have nothing against feminists. But I have had trouble thinking of myself as one because i have not felt that I was empowered enough to be a feminist...and I don't feel very "womanly"....and have felt sorta seperate and alienated from other women.....and I have felt even that women who were feminists have frowned upon me as a person because they didn't understand me and that I have communication difficulties...
I once managed to anger a whole radical feminist group and they pretty much never spoke to me again because I told them they could have their womens' only meeting at my venue...and I warned them in advance that men live at the place....and that i could not completely quarantine men from the building...but we set up our gallery and blocked off the area with sheets and posted signs that it was a private meeting....but that wasn't good enough...and I let them down and they were furious with me. I think that empowerment movements like the one that group tried to convey should attempt to address a broader spectrum of people...not just others that already fit their mold. These were all young women who were in the local activist community that I had tried to find a place in when I was younger...and that was sort of a problem i had with them...it was easy to be an outcast...it was a big clique and that seemed somewhat contradictory to what they were attempting to achieve.

Constructive? the original poster asked a specific question and i answered it. I dont see how being constructive is a pre-resquisitive for posting into this thread.


Feminism has no place in modern society, it will never address gross imbalances it will only create more, because it does not address issues from both a male and female perspective, it only addresses them from a female perspective. If you personally address issues from both perspectives, you aren't technically a feminist.

You're not alone Poopy! By the history, feminists seem bound to disagree, and splinter into factions. Just look at... I think it was Germaine Greer and Camille La Paglia? Do I have this right? Unfortunately nobody seems able to agree within the movement.

Last edited by activebutodd on 13 Jun 2009, 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

What are you trying to say? I am 19 and find what she says to be insightful. It is her age that she doesn't share the same experiences as you. Even if she did, would she still share the same opinions? Doubt it, as no two people are the same, and the closest you can come is twins, but even they are different, despite (in identical twins) sharing the same genetic code. There are a lot of things you cannot understand without experience. I try to find a way to understand them through meditation focusing on assuming the experience in the most real form I can to induce a feelings as if it were actually happening to me. While that is not perfect, it has deepened my understanding of the world greatly. I am also limited to the time I spend meditating on such experience. For example, while I may be able to feel a few minutes of a long term torture vctim's life, I cannot truly experience it as I haven't felt what he/she has felt for quite as long as they have felt it. Try doing some meditiation, but educate yourself before doing it on the experience you want to induce. And as for Merle's take on feminism, for the most part I completely agree.

feminists just wish they were men.

I'm an equalist. That's how you oughta be.