Hey, everyone! Your friendly neighborhood feminist Noa reporting in.
Well, good news everyone! For everyone who hates feminism, think its no longer necessary, or simply just aren't fond of it, I have some good news for you.
One day, the world will no longer need feminism! That's right, if we work hard, then we will no longer need feminism. You can help, but to achieve this we have to achieve the following goals:
Oh wow, you make feminists sound like the heroes of society. Awesome. Let's see if you can carry that through.
EDIT: I just want to add in that I find this above paragraph incredibly patronising. Honestly, I hate to generalise, but that seems to be classic feminism, always in the right. Please, we don't think feminism is important and just because you disagree doesn't mean you're educating us here. We aren't children. Give us an argument, not a lesson.
Women are no longer vilified for their sexual agency.
Oh, well this is just about vague enough to make zero sense.
Rapists are held accountable for their actions and people don't grasp at straws attempting to find any reason a woman deserved to be sexually violated
Men are raped. The only difference is that because feminists are getting there way, women are immediately preferred in court.
That is sexism.
More women begin to enter the STEM field and we more highly encourage young girls to take an interest in math and science at a YOUNG age.
You don't need feminism for that, you need a good pair of parents. Stop tooting your own horn.
Women no longer feel afraid to walk alone at night in fear of men approaching them and making them feel unsafe.
Women are naturally weaker than men, that's why this happens. If women were stronger than men, men would be afraid to walk alone at night. That's how it works. You don't need feminism to solve this, you need to arrest bad people.
Men no longer stalk, slander, and even murder women for rejecting their advances.
Because women totally won't do this too? You know, you're sounding like the sexist one here. Stop accepting all these gender stereotypes, wow.
We teach men from a young age that rejection is a normal part of life and they should learn to channel their energy into something else instead of bitterness.
Then why are you called feminists? Sexist much?
We dismantle beauty standards for women (and yes, men too!)
Then why are you called feminists? Sexist much?
We can mention without feminism without something saying the word "tumblr"
What?
But Noa, wait- what about the men? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them. Actually, I am passionate about men's issues too. Feminism is actually working as we speak to make the world a better place for MEN as well. So, moving on, to reach a world where feminism is not necessary we must:
Please, stop. Egalitarianism. It's pretty cool. Feminism - no, that's about women. Stop taking a
movement which has nothing to do with men's issues, and trying to turn it into a happy ideology for everyone. The name itself is incredibly sexist, and makes women out as the opressed in society. Women teach their daughters they are the victims and their sons that they need to be better than the rest of their sex. That is why feminism is disgusting. Sort your identity crisis out and then we'll talk.
- Encourage boys from a young age to express emotions rather than bottle them in because it's the "manly" thing to do.
- Stop acting like your son is being possessed by Satan when he actually enjoys playing with a ""girl"" toy.
- Stop down playing woman on male rape with comments like "I bet he actually enjoyed it" or "If he refused it, he's gay"
- Stop making a joke out of male on male rape (yup, that includes everyone's beloved "don't drop the soap" jokes)
Then why is it called feminism!?
Okay, that's great and all- but don't you have anything BAD to say about feminism? What about the dreaded tumblr feminism? Absolutely. I believe that you can't be a part of a growing social movement without critiquing it constantly.
There are some things I can't stand about feminism, like:
TERFS: Trans-exclusionary Radical Feminists. They are the scourge of modern feminism who hate transgender women. They are nauseatingly obsessed with gynocentric imagery and are the least progressive of them all. I and many others are constantly fighting against TERF ideology.
Honestly, I find all of the feminists pretty bad. Even if they mean well, they're encouraging a perpetual cycle of this inequality and this unfair outlook on men. By teaching your children that 'feminism' is the right way, you're encouraging them to see men as the oppressors and women as the oppressed. It's disgusting and it needs to stop. Why does it need to be called feminism? If you care about both genders, act like it.
Feminists who think harassment will make people listen to them. I always try my best to remain civil even with the most hateful anti-feminists, even if I am highly emotional, just because I like to be the bigger person. I do not condone harassment, doxxing, or violence of any kind. I am sorry if the actions of other feminists have led some to think this way. It is important to note, however, because of misogyny many people would take even a civil post like mine to be "screeching feminist behavior.
All of my grips with feminism are down to the core ideology (which isn't even an ideology, it's some movement that happened last century that even the people running the movement didn't turn into their ideology, because they probably understood it's a really dumb idea for an ideology which promotes gender inequality in actively fighting for females. It's in the name). Anything else is a gripe with individual people, not feminism.
So yes, feminism is absolutely relevant today. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask, I'm always willing to discuss.
So the main question is - why feminism? If you fight for both genders, why is the name of your ideology so sexist? Seems a bit hypocritical, no?
Feminism was a movement. It seeked to solve a few core issues. When those core problems were solved, feminism ended. That's what feminism should have always been. The women who founded feminism wouldn't have turned it into some makeshift ideology. It doesn't make sense that way - why would you live your whole life under that banner? Certainly a little bit sexist.
No matter how you try to slice it, feminism purports that men have always been and still are the superiors to women in society. Feminism wants to fix that, but nothing is broken, because the feminist assumption is flawed. You seem to personally have a bit of a 'no true Scotsman' issue going on, where whenever you hear about rude feminists, you will jump straight to 'those are bad feminists' or 'those aren't real feminists'. No, they're all real, they're all there.
Distance yourself from them. It's a sexist ideology however you look at it. It's literally in the name. There's a name for an ideology which favours both genders, but it isn't feminism. Feminism has never been about equality for both genders. Most who claim it is are thinly veiling a few poor excuses to make them sound like they care about helping men, but usually they are indoctrinated into still believing that men are the oppressors.
That is the definition of feminism. I don't see men's rights there. Because feminism does not fight for men's rights.
See below. It might seem like just a name change to you which doesn't mean anything, but the ideology of feminism as a whole, for most people who follow it, is very dangerous. The more ground feminism gets, the more people will see women as oppressed. That isn't right. Women teach their daughters that they need to stand up for their rights, and they teach their sons that they need to be the best of society by being better than the other men by treating women as equals. That isn't fair. Feminism is as sexist as it is ridiculous. Drop the 'no true Scotsman' act. If you want to treat people as equals, stop trying to form your own homebrew branch of feminism and join something a little less outwardly sexist.