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A Response to ‘Women Against Feminism.’

Imagine this:

The year is 2014. You are a white Western woman. You wake up in the morning in a comfortably sized house or flat. You have a full or part-time job that enables you to pay your rent or mortgage. You have been to school and maybe even college or university as well. You can read and write and count. You own a car or have a driver’s licence. You have enough money in your own bank account to feed and clothe yourself. You have access to the Internet. You can vote. You have a boyfriend or girlfriend of your choosing, who you can also marry if you want to, and raise a family with. You walk down the street wearing whatever you feel like wearing. You can go to bars and clubs and sleep with whomever you want.

Your world is full of freedom and possibility.

Then you pick up a newspaper or go online. You read about angry women ranting about sexism and inequality. You see phrases like ‘rape-culture’ and ‘slut-shaming.’ You furrow your brow and think to yourself: ‘What are they so angry about? There is no such thing as sexism anymore.’

Now imagine this:

The year is 2013. You are a 25 year-old Pakistani woman. A few months ago, you married the man you love. A man you choose for yourself. You are also pregnant with his child. You see your life stretching out before you, filled with hope and happiness. Suddenly, you and your husband are dragged away from each other. You are both beaten with bricks and batons. You can’t fight back. You can’t escape. No one comes to help you. Through your fading vision, you look up, and look into the eyes of one of your assailants: into the eyes of your father.

The year is 2013. You are a 23 year-old Indian woman. You are a physiotherapy student with a promising career ahead of you. You are sitting on a private bus travelling home alone on a warm December evening. You gaze out of the window as the buildings of New Dheli rush past you and feel content. Suddenly, a blunt force hits the back of your head and you fall to the floor of the bus. A group of strange men are standing over you. They bring the metal bar down on you again and again and again until all you can taste is the blood filling up your mouth. You pray that you will die soon. And you do, but not then. You are raped, beaten, and tortured over and over again. Death is slow and agonising.

The year is 2014. You are a 13 year-old girl from Niger. You no longer live there though. You are now living in the neighbouring country Nigeria, sitting alone in small room on a small bed in a small apartment high above the city of Kano. You are not allowed to leave. Your stomach is swollen from the unwanted life growing inside of it. You had no choice. The father is a man in his 40s. He is a businessman. He has bought you as his wife. You were a penniless, uneducated girl when he came for you. You don’t know of any life you could have had. Neither did your family: just one less mouth for them to feed. You still have the body of a child, and it’s straining under the pressure from the one inside of you. You feel like you’re about to be split in two. You don’t wonder if you will survive the birth. A part of you doesn’t want to.

These are fictionalised accounts of real events that have happened to real women living in our world today. They follow the past 250 years of women and men campaigning for women to be given equal rights to men to prevent these kinds of injustices and abuses on the grounds of gender taking place. Over the course of this time, campaigners – Feminists, both female and male – have been locked up, beaten, tortured, and even killed, in the pursuit of equality. They did this with pen and ink and print; they did this with their voices; they did this with their bodies; they did this with art and music; they did in courts of law and halls and houses of government that they fought be to allowed into.

They did this so that women would no longer been seen as property, livestock, breeding machines, sex objects, punching bags, or infantile morons. They did this not just for themselves, but also for their daughters, and their daughters, and their daughters for generations to come. They did this for women they would never meet – women who lived across countries, across vast oceans, across the entire globe, and even across time.

They did this so that women like me – a white Western woman – could attend school and university; to learn to read, write, and think critically; to gain a degree; to get a job and be paid an equal salary to a man in the same position; and to sit here with my own computer and type all of this.

Feminism is a movement for freedom, equality, choice, love, compassion, respect, solidarity, and education. We may argue, we may disagree, we may struggle to understand the choices and perspectives of others sometimes, but these core beliefs of the movement have never changed, and they never will.

That is why I am a Feminist.

If you feel that you have so far lived your life unaffected by even the mildest form of sexism – anything from feeling uncomfortable when a man catcalls you in the street, to feeling scared walking home alone at night in a secluded area – and are treated with love and respect by every man in your life, then to you I say: I’m glad for you. If you don’t think you need feminism, then that is a victory for the movement. You have fulfilled all those dreams that every suffragette being force-fed in prison and every ‘witch’ burnt at the stake dreamed you would one day.

But perhaps take a second to consider the life of the Pakistani woman who was beaten to death by her own family for marrying a man of her choosing. Or the life of the Indian woman who was raped, beaten, and murdered on a bus by a gang of men. Or the life of the little girl in Niger who was sold to a man more than twice her own age and forced to carry a baby that may kill her to deliver. Do they still need feminism?

And perhaps take a second to consider this too: Even in our liberal, Western world, why do women still only fill 24% of senior management jobs? Why are more women than men domestically abused or even killed every week at the hands of their male partner or ex-partner? Why is there still a pay gap (in the UK specifically) of 15% for women doing the same jobs and working the same hours as men?

And what about on a cultural level? Have you ever noticed how comedy panel shows usually only have one female panellist compared to 4-5 male ones? That almost every dieting product on the market is solely aimed at women? How a lot of newspapers and advertising campaigns will use a sexualised or pornographic image of a woman to sell news or products that have nothing to do with sex?

Or perhaps on a personal level: Do you choose to wear certain clothes because you want to or because you feel ‘unfeminine’ if you don’t? Do you choose to cover yourself up because you want to or because you feel ashamed or intimidated by a man looking at your body? Do you shave your legs and underarm hair because you want to or because you will look ‘ugly’ if you don’t? Did you parents dress you in pink as a baby because they liked the colour or because you were born a girl? Do you want to have children because you want to or because you are a woman?

When you look at yourself in the mirror in the morning, do you see yourself through your own eyes, or through the eyes of the men that will look at you when you walk out the door?

The fact is, like it or not, you still live a world where gender matters. Where gender controls not just the entire course of your life – but the lives of women all over the world. Every second, a child will be born female in a country where she will persecuted for this random biological occurrence for the rest of her life. So before you hold up your anti-Feminist placard proudly and smile at your own sense of empowerment, think not what Feminism can do for you, but what it can do for that one girl. She needs someone to stand up for her. That someone could be you.

UPDATE: Click here to read my follow up to this article: ‘Equalism: The Feminist Alternative?’

This is a response to ‘Women Against Feminism’ groups on Tumblr and Facebook.

The stories of the women mentioned in this post were sourced from these sites:

http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2014/05/29/pakistani-woman-stoned-to-death-for-marrying-a-man-of-her-own-choosing/

http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2013/01/02/indias-tipping-point-death-of-rape-victim-sparks-global-outrage/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27619295

Other facts and statistics were sourced from here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/international-womens-day-2014-the-shocking-statistics-that-show-why-it-is-still-so-important-9177211.html

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  1. A Response to ‘Women Against Feminism.’ | betsybwilson

    […] A Response to ‘Women Against Feminism.’. […]

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  2. Helen

    this is the first considered post I have read on the subject however a couple of points.

    I do not want children, however not one man has commented on this only women and they have called me ‘stupid’ and ‘selfish’ they have said ‘you will change your mind’.

    I don’t shave my legs because men tell me to – I do it out of choice now but the initial seed was definitely planted by women.

    Yes I do believe we should receive equal pay and a decent amount of women should be in senior positions – so I choose to work for a company that treats everyone fairly. They respect you regardless of sexuality, gender, race, religion, disability etc and all sorts of people do all sorts of jobs. This should be the case everything but men themselves are not to blame for this, the corporations are.

    It is not men that have judged me for the fact that I am bisexual – it is women. Women have called me names, women have asked inappropriate questions and made me feel uncomfortable. Women have ended friendships as a result of this.

    Suicide is most prevalent between white straight males between the ages of 18-24, with noone to support and modern feminism ‘bathing in the tears of men’ no wonder.

    Both genders need to work together, men are not the problem with the world. Women abuse, cheat, and lie too. Men can be gentle and loving. We need to stop blaming the majority for what the minority do.

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    1. egglescake

      Dear Helen, feminism is not women versus men. As you very rightly pointed out, women can be sexist too. Some women believe they are lesser than men, that they don’t deserve the equal pay or their own opinion. They have grown up surrounded by sexist beliefs and accepted them as the law. If someone tells you all your life that you are lesser, you will start to believe it. They become their own gender police (Margaret Atwood’s ‘Handmaid’s tale’ comes to mind).

      The fact that men enjoy privileges as compared to women is only true to the extent of class and race. I think it’s not talked about enough. A rich white woman will have many more privileges than a poor black man.

      You are absolutely right: men are not the problem, but I would add that people, who think that men are different and more special than women, are. And men suffer from sexism a great deal too. They are often told that aggression and violence equals masculinity, and that being manly is the most important thing. So they bring that same metaphorical hammer of violent masculinity to solve every problem.

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      1. Traverse Davies

        A major issue that I have with modern feminism is the demonization of masculinity. The simple fact of the matter is that I and many other men that I know are very much cast in the traditionally masculine mold in many ways. Interestingly because of that (and because individuality is a traditionally masculine trait) most of my friends are happy to not fit that mold when we don’t want to. However, constantly being told that the reason I don’t cry is that society doesn’t want me to is insulting. The reason I don’t cry is because my body doesn’t really produce much of the hormones that create tears, so they just aren’t a valid coping strategy for me… and no amount of saying it’s okay for me to cry will change that. In fact it diminishes the things I actually do need, and tries to make it look like I’m a lesser person for not having the same coping mechanisms. Masculinity is more than violence, it is also sacrifice, honour, stoicism (which does have a valid place), and many other traits. Just as feminism is not just frilliness and lace, but contains many kinds of strength, sharing, community, and many other traits.

        The women in WAF are not saying that women are lesser, they are saying that feminism as they are seeing does not represent the way they think and feel, that they see terms being bandied about that do not represent them in any way. This article completely dismisses both how feminism often presents itself (including in these comments) and what the women who dismiss it are actually saying.

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    2. Susan

      All that proves is that the women you are blaming ALSO NEED FEMINISM to breakout of the mold a patriarchal society has forced them into. YOU are seeing the world as “men vs women” when you insist feminists see it that way. We don’t. Just because a society or culture is “male dominated” NEVER means “all men are bad” & “only women are victims”. It just means that the overall balance of power is seriously one-sided.

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  3. Megan

    No such thing as equality. Not even for men. Never will be. It’s a great idea and something we can and should work toward but equality is an idea more than it will ever be a reality. Example: A poor immigrant non-white woman living in a poverty in the Bronx is not “equal” to a rich white woman who is educated and has an upperclass lifestyle in Manhattan. Both women, not equal. They don’t have the same access to resources and while both have problems one is faced with survival on a very real level (food, shelter, clothing). Now you can say they are equal in some cerebral, PC, sophomoric way but it simply isn’t true on a socio-economic level.

    A lot of what is said above assumes that woman are born equal (which is false) to one another and must engage men (who even though come from many races, and cultural and social differences are all somehow also equal) in order to get what they want.

    If you know men at all, which is a huge stretch considering this or any article on feminism since it’s usually about turning men into statistic rather that beings who live and breath. That said there are some who are sexist and sit in a room and decide woman should be paid less and used as sex objects, but for the most part men just want want what any human wants, a stable environment to eat, sleep and sometimes listen to music in without having to be violent or sexist or even a man, just a human living it’s life in whatever kind of peace they can find.

    This article hit’s it on the head about feminism. Is it really is about rich educated white women who have the time to write and think and debate about these issues because in reality they have nothing better to do? Or is there something more to feminism than that?

    Maybe, just maybe helping someone in poverty, maybe a woman, get out of her situation and have a chance to climb the social ladder. This might be a better exercise in equality for all the rich white women out there. But I’m just a dumb, sexist, violent and sometimes feminist male, what the hell do I know?

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  4. Helen

    Thank you for this timely, beautifully clear and lucid article. I hope it will encourage women and men to think clearly about the simple goal of feminism: equality. It is profoundly troubling that so many people, even those who consider themselves forward-thinking, young and liberal-minded, are so ignorant of the persisting and insidious reality of misogyny in the UK and abroad. I’m glad to see that you provided further reading, since anti-feminists (or those who claim that the goals of feminism have already been reached) often seem so poorly informed. I also recommend that those interested in or unconvinced by the need for feminist progress in the developing world read about the work of Plan, and their Sponser a Girl campaign, to understand the impact on gender inequality for whole social and economic conditions. Keep up the great writing!

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    1. Traverse Davies

      Many people who oppose feminism oppose what the movement has become, not what it once stood for. They oppose tumblr feminism and Andrea Dworkin, not the idea that women should be equal.

      Many movements start out in one place and end in another. Feminism has in fact taken on some nasty baggage, some very challenging patters of thought and action. Maybe most feminists simply want equality for women, but most feminists in the media have a more specific agenda. There is also the question of equality of outcome and equality of opportunity. I personally want true equality of opportunity, but that’s damned hard to achieve. I would be hard pressed to care about equality of outcome, as if you have equality of opportunity, outcomes are ruled by individual choice. In the equality of opportunity field we have many challenges. We have institutionalized sexism, but we also have things like the gender gap in teachers.

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  5. A Response to ‘Women Against Feminism.’ | Barrow Blogs

    […] A Response to ‘Women Against Feminism.’. […]

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  6. Richard

    I think one of the main problems with feminism, is that with the furor that many follow the philosophy, many feminists won’t be happy when true equality is reached, if it ever is (and may not even be able to recognize it when it happens). No they won’t be happy until female dominance is achieved.
    I have no problem with equality, truly I don’t, what I can’t stand is the dual standards that many have. They want to be equal in only certain things, but then elevated and treasured in others. They want equal treatment, equal pay, equal opportunities, equal exposure, but still want to be treated to dinners, have doors held open for them, flowers bought, etc.. I have no problem with being “chivalrous” either, but you ladies have to make up your damned minds, either you want to be equal or you don’t. Because equality doesn’t mean having all those previous things equalize, and at the same time be placed up on a pedestal for others, you can’t have both.

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    1. Jennifer

      Really, why can women not have both? As a feminist with a husband, I work a full time job, we also have children, my husband has clean clothes that I wash, dry, and put away, he still comes home to meals as I am home first, our children are well taken care of mainly the trivial, and menial things by myself as I am available more with my career path. My husband has both, as do most of the men I know! Would you like to know why? Because I appreciate him, he is my partner, my friend and my equal and I want to do those things for him and for us! To say women can not expect chivalrous treatment because they want equality is ridiculous to me !

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    2. Zamaru

      Which women are these, exactly? Did you by any chance see them on TV?

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    3. lovelynn22

      So women should not be entitled to equal treatment, pay, opportunities and exposure as men, if we also expect common courtesy? No one said a man needed to buy a women dinner, hold all doors open for her, and bring her flowers every time they meet; this isn’t the 1950’s. Holding a door open for someone and equal treatment are two very different things. I hold doors open all the time coming in and out of buildings, for men and women. If I am expected to hold doors open for men, buy them dinner, and bring them a six pack when I show up, then shouldn’t that also mean I should get paid more and be treated better? No, because that wouldn’t make any sense. Trying to compare how society treats women (treatment, pay, opportunities, exposure) to how an individual (man or women) treats another on a date (dinner, doors held open, small gifts, kind gestures) is not the same thing, and is also not the point of the article at all.

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    4. Christa

      This an assumption about women who believe in feminism. I believe in equality and don’t want dinners bought for me or doors opened for me. Often times I’m the one opening the door for others and buying dinner. Making assumptions about large groups of people is at the bases of most inequality.

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    5. Jessica

      Just so we are all clear : Being chivalrous or respectful and honoring your partner is not the same as your partner having equal pay, opportunity, exposure, etc… Aside from that, the argument that we as women have to make up our minds about how we want to be treated is dated and ridiculous. Why is it that if I want to be equal to men I lose the courtesy, honor, and respect that I should be afforded for just being a HUMAN BEING. Being kind to each other, in particular people who we are in relationships with, shouldn’t come with stipulations. And for women in particular, as you pointed out, it shouldn’t be a one or the other scenario. These two ideas of equality and courtesy are not mutually exclusive. They just aren’t. And for you to imply otherwise makes me think you should revisit your logic on this one.

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  7. Feminism: Getting Sticky With It. | Books and Bowel Movements

    […] A Response to “Women Against Feminism” @ I Wanted Wings […]

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  8. Mark Laurence Piggott

    Feminism isn’t equal. It Assumes that Women’s rights are all less than Men’s. Have you ever seen a Feminist group lobby for a father to keep his children? Therefore not equality and only an advocate for women’s rights. Plain, simple reasoning.

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    1. Zamaru

      Lol i no right? And like why dont feminist groups make laws helping MEN out or something? Those greedy feminists.

      It’s because “feminist groups,” whatever those are, don’t make laws, just like they don’t have any say in decisions that are made by courts. You’re condemning some imaginary cabal for not taking action in spheres where they have no authority, and blaming some imaginary feminism for this. It’s clear you did not read the article, you’re just responding to an imaginary feminist diatribe of your own invention and using it to paint 50% of the population. Logic? You’re pulling the same ignorant act you’re complaining about.

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    2. karen

      Yeah, I actually have. In fact, I belong to a feminist group at my school that actively lobbies for the male victims of rape and their right to raise children among many other things. We’re concerned with all aspects of gender equality and the ways traditional patriarchal ideas have harmed men and women.

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  9. Rena McDaniel-The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver

    I wrote a post on the pregnant Pakistani woman killed by her own family a few months ago, so so sad. It’s hard to belive this occurs everyday in our world.

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  10. Corinne Falotico

    Reblogged this on The Feminist Feline and commented:
    This made me tear up. You may think you don’t need feminism, but you wouldn’t be where you are today without it.

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  11. creativeconfessions

    Thank you for sharing this well-written and insightful post. Not only is it well-reasoned, it explains what feminism is really all about. Often times the term “feminism” is twisted, turned upside down and reproduced until it causes misconceptions about what it really is and why it is necessary in the world we live in today. As for me, I am a feminist and proud.

    Thank you for sharing!

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  12. Gregory

    There have been some responses that more or less try and discourage feminism and encourage humanism. This is not a fair point, because it completely disregards the lived experience. It is a matter of fact that men are different to women. To disregard this would be a fundamental mischaracterisation of what being human is, so by definition humanism necessitates feminism, otherwise it is just another form of discrimination

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  13. — lydia

    Reblogged this on PINKLOVER. and commented:
    This is a great article and I really appreciate this post. The tone is calm and not aggressive which I think strengthens its discourse. As I haven’t experienced any of those negativity as stated in those fictionalised accounts, I feel saddened that there are such things happening in our world today. Great work!

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    1. Jennifer

      Feminism does not equal victomology ‘

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      1. — lydia

        What do you mean by ‘victomology’v

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  14. RBIggs123245

    Great post, solid points. I think you will loose your intended audience in the third to last paragraph, where “Feminism” starts to mean rejecting your femininity. All of us, men and women alike, want to look good and want other people to think we look good. This is a biological reality, and most people are comfortable with it. Many women enjoy looking feminine and are happy to shave their armpits, even if its only to please men. You are implying that every time a woman puts on a pretty dress that makes her feel attractive, she is an unwitting victim of misogyny. Young, educated, liberated women are rejecting your version of “feminism” because they are comfortable with, and able to enjoy, their feminimity.

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    1. Zamaru

      But she’s not commanding women to reject any of the things she mentions. Nowhere does she say that. What she is saying, based on her own words, is that women should take a hard look at whether they are doing things because they really want to, or because they feel like they need to to please someone who is not them. Just… Think about it, and be conscious of all the places in a woman’s life where her business is other people’s business. The part I found especially poignant was asking yourself if you see yourself in the mirror with your own eyes, or the eyes of the men who will look at you on the street.

      I feel like a lot of the people criticizing the author are upset with words that they’ve imagined into the article, which aren’t in fact there. They’re some accumulated monologue from other sources that give people a more radical, hypocritical opponent to argue against.

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  15. Joe

    Imagine this: it’s 1966, and you are an attractive, well-endowed 18-year-old woman working her first job as an office assistant. “Feminism,” if you’ve ever heard the word before, is an entirely new and alien concept. All you know of it is that for some reason, women involved in it burn their bras, and as someone with a 36D bust, this makes no sense.

    Your employer is prone to making all sorts of uncouth comments around the office, which you do your best to shrug off, because you need this job, and you’ve become accustomed to such unwanted attention, so you don’t let it bother you. One day he grabs your breast and tells you, in so many words, to choose between your honor and your job.

    What do you do? There’s no such phrase as “hostile workplace” or “sexual harassment” in the lexicon yet, no legal recourse other than a he-said-she-said with the police, and you’re a kid and he’s a DOCTOR. You’re paying rent for the first time ever, and you can’t afford to be jobless.

    If you’re this young woman, you slap the shit out of him, call him a pig, and quit and storm out. On the way out the door, you tell him that he’s lucky you didn’t tell your father about him before, because otherwise he’d be in an unmarked grave by now.

    That woman was my mother. Call her a victim of anything, and she’ll slap you twice as hard. Even in 1966, during the peak of the “Mad Men” approach to women in the workplace, my mother didn’t need feminism, and she saw and catalogued its faults from the very beginning. She had a long professional career while raising an honorable son and a strong daughter who have never needed it, much less cared for it, either.

    Feminism encourages women to see themselves as victims. My mother raised my sister to be a VICTOR.

    If my mother didn’t need feminism in 1966, believe me, you don’t need it today. If you do, I feel sorry for you.

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    1. Zamaru

      I am so glad for your mother that that man simply let her go, and did not rape her and beat her to death. That is very, very lucky. A great stroke of luck. I wonder how many women that year were not as lucky as your mother, and were violated, beaten and murdered simply because they were women and dared to refuse an advance. It definitely wasn’t zero.

      Your mother was taken advantage of because she was seen as powerless, an opportunity for a quick bang instead of a whole person. Feminism is not about victimization – it’s about raising awareness and humanity to the point where women AREN’T just seen in terms of potential victims.

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    2. Rick

      “What do you do? There’s no such phrase as “hostile workplace” or “sexual harassment” in the lexicon yet, no legal recourse other than a he-said-she-said with the police, and you’re a kid and he’s a DOCTOR. You’re paying rent for the first time ever, and you can’t afford to be jobless.” You don’t need feminism? Feminism is why there now ARE phrases such as “hostile workplace” and “sexual harassment” and there now ARE legal recourses.

      Way to completely miss the point of this article. You might want to get out of your self-righteous narcissism for a moment and consider that maybe, just maybe, there were (and are) women who didn’t have the background, upbringing, genetic disposition or whatever other reasons you want to name to do what your mother did. What if she’d already had a child or two? What if she had zero support? What if her father was someone who would just as soon put HER in an unmarked grave?

      Your mother quit her job and then somehow raised you to be a victor? Good for her and good for you. Too bad she didn’t raise you to have an ounce of compassion or empathy for others, let alone any sense of reality outside yourself or gratitude for the conditions that allow you to be such a “victor”.

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    3. Trixie

      I am sorry, but the only reason your mother could have a job outside of the house is because of feminism. The only reason she could slap that man without being beaten within and inch of her life is because of feminism. Feminism is not about victimization, it’s about fighting against injustice. Victims, aren’t weak, they are strong. They live and survive through things others can’t. Would you call a victim of war weak? A victim of a gunshot wound? A victim of cancer? If you don’t believe in standing against injustice, then you are not honorable. You really didn’t understand this article at all. Are you saying there shouldn’t be laws against sexual harassment? That it was ok that your mother had to choose either getting raped or keeping her job? How would you like it, if that had been a decision thrust upon you, because of your gender? Sorry, sir, but as you can completely disagree, I too disagree with you (and I have feminism to thank for that).

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    4. Susan

      Right. One woman hit one guy who FELT ENTITLED to do what he did, she STILL HAD TO LOSE HER JOB *&* rely on the THREAT OF MALE VIOLENCE to help her out, but feminism is bad because she shrugged it off. I feel sorry for you & every woman you know.

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  16. Bill

    Basically the women in Pakistan don’t need feminism, they need atheism. Also men also need to behave in a certain manly way because society expects them to, they need to dress in a certain way, they worry how women look at them and so on. Gender roles do not affect only women, if you think this is the case you’re terribly misled. Violence doesn’t affect only women, men are more frequently victims of violence only because society thinks it’s fine to attack a man, they’re men after and they should know how to fight. There is no need for feminism, there is need for equality, mutual understanding, fewer stereotypes that affect both genders and we need for much less (or not at all) religion that keeps many countries in the stone age.

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    1. Rick

      They are two different, though related, issues. But it is not an either/or; as others have pointed out feminism (at least as this blog’s author is describing it) IS about equality, mutual understanding, and NO stereotyping.

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    2. RS

      Sir (I assume you are a man, given your name, pardon me if I’m wrong),
      The fact that gender roles affect men too is something feminists recognise and want to change. Feminism wishes that all people be free of expectations borne of their gender. The fact that men suffer at the hands of patriarchy as well is not really a counter to feminism. It’s what feminists do routinely point out. You may then ask, if feminists do wish to abolish harmful gender roles for both men and women, why do we need ‘feminism’ at all? First, I think you are placing too much emphasis on the nomenclature, and not enough on the actual content of the ideology. Feminism seeks to promote the idea that women should be free to make choices (just as men should) based on what they want, or think will add value to their life, as opposed to based on any societal considerations. It also believes that women need control over their bodies, their life decisions, and have a right to control the direction their lives can as best any human being can. Doesn’t sound so problematic so far, does it? Now moving onto why the name feminism is still used. It’s because words matter. Women’s experiences were denied for a very long time, and there is a tendency to generalise men’s experiences to include women as well. Historically, that’s not been true because women were excluded from political participation and the work force for quite a long time. Consider further how even despite having equality on paper, how vastly women’s experiences differ when they are not considered important enough assets to an establishment simply because they choose to be mothers as well, and the task of ‘rearing the child’ falls disproportionately on them. Or how women are afraid to roam the streets freely, because in addition to the kind of violence that men may fall prey to (mugging, stabbing, getting run over), women have to worry about getting raped. Consider then how it’s not possible to know which men are rapists and which are not, which means you’re perpetually afraid. This is what feminism is trying to do- show to the world that women still have different experiences simply because they are women. That’s why the term feminism. It’s to remind people that you can’t suddenly one day announce that women are equal to men without taking care of these everyday inconveniences, and at times gross injustice, that women have to suffer despite their being equality on paper. Moreover, there are enough people in the world talking about men’s problems, and there have been for centuries. We don’t ask gay rights activists why they’re not talking about high suicide rates among heterosexual men! It’s a different agenda. That doesn’t mean that it denies the importance of other agendas. You don’t have to profess one kind of ideology to the exclusion of another. You can be a feminist and be a gay rights supporter. Similarly, you can be a feminist and care about other problems in the world.
      Lastly, to counter your point that the answer lies in the eradication of religion, or that patriarchy is found only in godforsaken countries- that simply isn’t true. The fact that all religions uphold patriarchal structures, no matter when or where they originated, shows that the problem is culturally relative only in degree. What I mean by that is that a women in Saudi is probably a lot more oppressed than I am. That doesn’t mean that in comparison to the majority of the men in my own surroundings, I may suffer from certain disadvantages purely due to my gender. I may get passed up for a promotion simply because I had to take a maternity leave because my husband told me that it was my job to take care of the children. Then people turn to me and say, well, it was your fault. Who asked you to have a baby, anyway? But I had to have the baby because society judges women who don’t fulfill their natural role of being mothers. That, and the fact that women are demonised for using contraceptives or opting for an abortion. Or, in a different scenario, I am blamed when I am raped while returning home from work late at night. I shouldn’t have been “adventurous”. These accusations have nothing to do with religion. Yes, all religions are patriarchal, but to say that we need atheism and not feminism is to evade the question. You think oppression exists only in India or Pakistan? A girl got raped in the USA and everyone was clamouring for her rapists to be let off easy because they were young boys with ‘promising futures’. I hope you see how problematic your stance is now.

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      1. jhan1969

        “Feminism seeks to promote the idea that women should be free to make choices (just as men should) based on what they want, or think will add value to their life, as opposed to based on any societal considerations.”

        Then tell rad-fems to stop criticizing women who choose to stay at home and raise a family. And ESPECIALLY tell them to stop doing this when their object of criticism is someone they disagree with ideologically. They jumped all over Anne Romney for being a stay-at-home-mom. They jumped all over Sarah Palin for choosing to give birth to a child with Down’s Syndrome. Hypocritical feministas jump all over conservative women for IDEOLOGICAL WARFARE reasons, and in doing so, go against EVERY principle they claim to believe in. Why? Because ‘The issue is never the issue; the issue is ALWAYS the revolution.’ Rad-fems will ALWAYS take the side of the leftist revolution before they apply their own beliefs equally to everyone, no matter how two-faced they have to be to do it.

        That’s why people don’t take feminism seriously. The feminists who KNOW that there are psycho moonbats on their side of the fence WON’T SAY ANYTHING. Their scared of being ostracized. They’re scared they won’t get tenure. They’re scared they’ll lose their jobs. They’re scared of social ostracism. That’s because the rad-fem left, who runs the ‘IDEA’ wing of feminism, will come down on them with every weapon they have if they speak out. And the evidence for that is everywhere.

        About 70% of the time, when I talk to women who claim to be ‘feminists,’ it’s only a matter of time before they stop talking about women’s issues and start talking about wealth re-distribution, increased government, and all the other po-mo, lefty stuff they’ve come to believe in as gospel. They are fundamentally STATISTS, filled up to their eyeballs with half-baked Marxist critical theory that tells them that everyone would be better off with less freedom and more control of their lives by ‘experts’ – most of whom never produced a thing of real worth in their lives. What happened to ‘women’s issues?’ Oh well, they took a back seat to the REAL GOAL, which is leftist revolution.

        i can say this stuff ’till I’m blue in the face. America is, by and large, a center-right country, and what it doesn’t like about feminism is all the lefty crap that comes along with it. You can lecture US all you want about how you want equality for everyone and blah blah blah, but you’re lecturing the WRONG PEOPLE. You need to look WITHIN, at your own movement that was taken over by complete assholes decades ago.

        THEN you can learn and admit to yourself the real reason why hard-core rad-fems don’t say anything about women suffering under Islam. Harcdore rad-fems come from the LEFT, and the LEFT’S first and foremost enemy is WESTERN CULTURE – primarily America. Criticizing another culture won’t do anything for their REAL FIGHT, which is against America. That’s why you have so many rad-fems calling Israel an ‘apartheid’ nation. Since is Israel is a ‘satellite of western/American imperialism’ or whatever, it can ONLY BE BAD, and the other side can ONLY BE GOOD. A leftist’s PRIMARY GOAL is to denigrate WESTERN CULTURE, no matter the truth.

        A normal person is HAPPY that a woman of Arab descent in Israel can drive, go to work, vote, and leave the house un-acompanied by a male, as long as she remains a law-abiding citizen. A nut-job ideologue will find any way she can to rationalize that somehow, Israel is a bad place for a law-abiding Arab woman and that Hamas would be better for her.

        All the normal, reglar’ folks in America know this. It’s the nut-job psychos who want to teach us that up is down and right is left, in order to re-define reality to fit their ideological paradigms.

        Now go on ahead and ignore everything I just said and give us another Foucault/Marcuse inspired lecture. Ignore the hard evidence in front of you and lecture me about slavery or something, as If I never would have known about that had I not listened to my intellectual betters such as you. But I tell you what . . .

        . . . if some asshole on my block beats his daughter half to death because she wants to go to the prom or date someone or go to school, he will get my boot in his ass. Regardless of who he is. Regardless of his religion. I’ll be fighting the REAL fight for women, while the rad-fem moonbats try to convince everyone that America is the terrorist nation and the TERRRORISTS are an ‘oppressed’ people.

        Take care of business on your side of the fence, and quit bugging the rest of us.

        Like

  17. Anti feminists -_-‘ | Fu Fu Fury

    […] https://iwantedwings.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/a-response-to-women-against-feminism/ […]

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  18. jhan1969

    First off, there is no more pay gap. Hasn’t been for a long time. When you control for industry and specific profession, the pay gap disappears. In fact, in America’s cities, professional women are now out-earning men. Women are earing more college degrees than men, and women are the #1 group of home buyers after married couples. Empirical data will prove ALL OF THIS.

    And BTW – averaging ALL male jobs against ALL female jobs will produce meaningless results. That’s beyond an apples and oranges comparison – to say the least. Unless you drill down into the data and control for industry and profession, the results are worthless. There is no point at all in comparing the earnings of a part-time grade school teacher to a corporate lawyer. Just about EVERY statistician who has visited this issue has said as much.

    Plus, let’s not forget women leaving the workforce to have children. That affects pay as well. A REAL statistic would be how long it takes women to get BACK to the same pay-scale as men AFTER they come back into the workforce. Controlled for industry and specific profession, of course.

    Getting REAL information from statistics is arduous work. It’s much less exciting than shaking one’s angry fist at the sky and proclaiming injustice. Thankfully, some people are willing to do this work. Whether or not western feminists want to listen is a whole other story.

    You’re not right just because you SAY you are; you actually have to PROVE that you’re right.

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    1. Zamaru

      Apparently, saying “data will prove this” and “getting real information is arduous work” qualifies as proving you’re right, not saying you’re right? Cool. Good thing you proved it.

      See where the author says that the pay gap is a problem in the UK? It’s the basest ignorance to sketchily assert that there is no problem in the US and extrapolate from that that there’s no problem in the world.

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    2. Rick

      “you actually have to PROVE that you’re right.” Only if your sole reason is to be right. You are welcome to take one of the many examples in this post and single it out to the exclusion of the overall point (obviously, since you did just that). Maybe you can follow it up with “real” statistics regarding the other points: domestic violence, the pay-scale in other countries, rape, advertising, media. “Real” information also involves doing complete work and looking at the big picture.

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  19. Hana

    Great Read, very interesting

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  20. She Films the Clouds

    All I have to say is thank you, this powerful article is what all the women in the world needs, to make people understand why we have to fight for women rights and never feel comfortable until every woman in this world can be free to choose and to live without any fear.

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  21. Raymond

    I love how the anti-femists are painted as this united considered solid group. they can be just as uneducated, personally driven, reactionary, disparate, ignorant, label worried and completly varied as any other group or humans, if not more so. Their common link and bond is simply saying ‘I am anti-feminist’ not some well crafted considered all prescribed to ideology. Feminism means equality that is it, define what it means to you and work within it instead of dismissing it because of some bad sections or fear of labels or ignorance. Otherwise you need to be anti-human, there are a lot of awful awful human/groups way beyond what feminists of any faction could ever do, that never strived for any good intentions. Are you anti-human? Do you spend time bring attention to anti-humanism and making placards for that? Humanist is a cop out, yes we all want everything and everyone to be equal, respected, etc but its not and does deny the extra unfairness on those who its hits such as gender its like saying i’m not anti-racism, I’m humanist. To be anti-femist now is very opportunistic and rich, our world of such equality ( which is a bit blind) you cannot deny has been helped achieved by feminists. Think what you life would be like as a woman now in our western equal world if that never happened, if feminism never existed? Think of how life has been for woman of the past and still in other countries? where the idea of this movement came from? Woman from long long ago have been treated like second class meat, yes its so much better now but c’mon really its always been that way? Its easy to dismiss and even bag the word now, to shy away yet soak up all the privilege it has afforded you! Very comfortable position indeed!

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    1. jhan1969

      “Feminism means equality that is it.”

      No . . . to the ideologue feminists in academia, ‘feminism’ means promotion of a leftist, statist agenda. That’s why ‘Feminism,’ as a specific ideological philosophy, no longer has an appeal to the majority of American women. The MAJORITY of this country is center-right, and in ‘Feminism,’ the lefty moonbats took over a long time ago.

      Feminists with any sense of reality have to clean out the nutjobs from their side of the fence to be taken seriously again.

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      1. Zamaru

        Sorry, which leftist ideologues in academia are those, exactly? That’s a pretty specific claim, so I assume you must have names and sources.

        Like

      2. sarahklum

        Zamaru: The OP is talking about the bashing of every woman who dares be conservative. They are talking about the idea that free birth control is a right and anyone who says no it isn’t a right is waging a war on women. The idea your 14 year old daughter can get abortion on demand and you the parent have no right to know. All far left ideas.

        The list goes on and on.

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  22. Flo

    What an amazing piece of writing. Well done, and thank you for putting this out there so simply for people who dont already understand to do so.

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  23. sacredhandscoven

    Thank you! I absolutely agree with your post that it i not about what feminism can do for me any more. I had my teens and 20s to be intimidated in high school, in the offices and on the streets with the unwanted advances and criticisms of men. In my thirties I took control and said “No more!” and fought to do things my own way whether others liked them or not. In my 40s I started teaching the younger generations (of all ages) in my life, to stand up for what they want and not let anyone tell them no. Now that I am in my early 50s, almost finished raising my three sons, very vocal proponents of feminism in their own rights, I am helping these newly strong adopted daughters and sons to teach their daughters and sons the importance of carrying on the fight. Not because it benefits me, but because it will benefit the world long after I am gone. THIS is what it means to be a white woman raised in the United States. Women here HAVE the benefits, in most cases, that the rest of the world envies and deserves. It is a lifelong pursuit to be a feminist and as long as I am breathing and not yet six feet under, I will remain an outspoken feminist of the first water!

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  24. Kevbo

    What we need to do is teach bad people to treat each other with respect. Feminism has nothing to do with it. Would you say that cavemen were sexist? Was that their choosing? It’s just the natural way the sexes differ. We need to embrace our sexual differences and capitalize on them. Neutralizing gender creates entirely new problems that some would argue surpass humanities historical relationship norms.

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    1. jhan1969

      “What we need to do is teach bad people to treat each other with respect.”

      That makes no sense at all.

      Other than that, I agree with you.

      Like

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  25. Women Against Feminism: What they get right | What A Woman Wants

    […] are and we should be feminists for their sake” is flawed. In this very well written, eloquent piece by iwantedwings, she argues that while women in the UK/US may feel they have progressed to the point that feminism […]

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  26. kevin1111

    WAF is not about rejecting the fight for woman’s rights in the third world. It’s about neo-feminism that has taken mainstream attention in the west, where unnecessary amounts of resources and time are spent bickering about non-issues of (mostly) white woman in the west, and tipping the scales towards women. No sane WAF supporter admits that women everywhere are now equal to men. WAF is simply a response to the extremist feminists that have rooted-up and begun to poison what feminism once stood for.

    In regards to the examples you used at the end about women issues in the west. These are somewhat easy to explain/tackle.

    The pay gap, as big or small is at i may be from country to country, is in fact the smallest it has ever been (in the west). And trends show that it continues to shrink. So to say we have a pay gap issue is no longer a feminist staple. And, to add to this argument, there have been plenty of studies and analysis of wage gaps that show that women are simply not aggressive enough during wage negotiations, in comparison to men. Women will consistently accept lower wage offers, sooner. Whereas men tend to put up a longer fight. This is of course an average. There will be women and men who contradict these findings.

    In regards to women only making 24% of management/leadership positions. Take into consideration that we currently live in a transitional phase. Where women are quite quickly excelling in areas of society previously off-limits to them. It takes time for women to build careers. It won’t take a few decades to undo a hundred thousand years of patriarchy.

    In regards to sexualization of women; I argue that both men and women are both equally sexualized in media to sell products unrelated to sex. Look through any magazine with ads with male models, and tell me those men are “realistic” in body form and looks.

    In regards to female comedians. This too is simple to explain. First off, the ratio of female to male comedians is deeply slanted towards men. This alone accounts for much of the disparity you see. There are also biological/evolutionary factors of why male comedians tend to be funnier for the most part, when compared to female comedians. Have there been great female comedians? Of course! But that does not mean that in the end, humans are not a sexual dimorphic species. And just as our physical features and capabilities vary greatly between genders. So do our other abilities. Women just didn’t have to be funny to get a mate during the stone ages of humanity. The pressure was on men, and sexual selection ensured that men needed to be somewhat funny to attract a mate. If you as a women think about the qualities you want in a man, I assure you the top 5 will include funny/sense of humor. Whereas in stark contrast, most men would not think of “sense of humor” as top of their list.

    Finally, in regards to your reflection of what women think about every day when deciding what to wear/look like. I admit, pressures of women to look a certain way are greatly engrained in our society. I don’t agree with the level of pressure put on women. If feminism had any remaining usefulness in the west, this would probably be it. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that men too, on a daily basis, have these sorts of insecurities run through their minds. Unfortunately for us, it is considered “wussy-like” to admit it, or to share it with anyone. We think that six-pack abs and a lean figure are still the ideal for women, because, like I said before, both genders are sexualized in media.

    Remember that in the struggle of gender equality, both sides suffer. Feminism as a movement has become dated. The future is humanism and egalitarianism.

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  27. Anina Salerno

    Helen, when I read this, my first reaction was that the first woman must live in Europe, perhaps Denmark, because it isn’t like that in the USA. Women get paid about 25% less than men for the same work, and NOBODY has free access to a higher education. I remember when it was more like that, but we are going backwards in the United States. Reproductive freedom is less and less free. It saddens me. We don’t need feminism. We need human rights for men and women equally.

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  28. theundiedrawer

    Reblogged this on The Undie Drawer and commented:
    This was absolutely perfect.

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  29. valenciaorange2000

    Reblogged this on valenciaorange2000's Blog.

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  30. Wednesday bonus: women against feminism | I am a Person

    […] go on at length about my opinion about the women who tell us that they don’t need feminism.  This person says it better than I ever will, […]

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  31. pjclutterbuck

    “Your stomach is swollen from the unwanted life growing inside of it. You had no choice. The father is a man in his 40s.”

    Um, no. Unless the unwanted life is WORMS, then the part that is swollen would be her UTERUS. Such an obvious error, about as obvious as the corollary that babies don’t actually get ejected via the anal passage. Please edit the word, in the very first paragraph.

    Other than that, a great article, and very much in line with what this feminist has been learning from our sisters in the movement for years now. Thanks for posting!

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    1. sarahklum

      The OP is talking about forced marriages where girls have no rights, can’t leave the house and have no choices. In many Islamic countries women are property. Young girls are sold as brides to men who lock them away in a house and they are forbidden to leave the house. They have no rights and no choices. The life IS unwanted because the marriage, the sex and the slavery is unwanted.

      It is no better than rape. I hope this explains to you what you obviously missed.

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  32. Jonathan

    And in the process women seek dominion over men. Feminist activiists are borderline criminally insane. I have been verbally assaulted by those who claim feminist and wants to make me feel like it is a bad thing to be proud of being a man. The feminist movement is at best prejudice. Who will fight forthe rights of men who are losing their rights every day, who will fight for the injustice that men face everyday? Did you know that there are high percentages of men being abused by their female partners and a low percentage chooses to say something? Why don’t you feminists show any compassion towards injustice of men and never see from their point of view? That all men are bad attitude is benign, we should be more focused on human rights as a whole, not set to one class, race, or gender. Being that focused on the diversity makes you seem ignorant and hypocrital. Human rights activists in general would put a stop to all injustices in the world not just this. Think about it, a place where we truly are all equal and is treated like it. Dont poke and prode through hay trying to find that needle to stab someone with.

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  33. wezzie1975313

    Reblogged this on wezzie1975313's Blog and commented:
    This is so sad. Why here now in 2014 women are still treated like this. Others need to come together abd fight for the women’s right. This is so sickening, so disgraceful. They need to be treated like that.

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    1. sarahklum

      And the lack of caring by feminism in the west is why so many educated young women reject feminism out right.

      A Response to ‘Women Against Feminism.’

      There go take a peak and learn about the NEW feminism that is actually taking a stand. Feminist in America are bent on far left political ideology. They claim false wars on women while ignoring the real war right under their noses.

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  34. chatsoverdanish

    Reblogged this on chatsoverdanish and commented:
    yesyesYES !!

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  35. Sagedaugherty5357

    Reblogged this on Confessions of an aspiring journalist and commented:
    THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT READ.

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  36. Sarah

    Reblogged this on and commented:
    Excellent post

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  37. will

    this post triggered me

    “Feminism is a movement for freedom, equality, choice, love, compassion, respect, solidarity, and education.“

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iARHCxAMAO0 (a video of a lecture intended to discuss male suicide)

    “The number of male suicides over the age of 15 in England and Wales from 2001 to 2011 totalled 38,621. The number of women in the same period totalled 12,780. A difference of 25,841.“(1)

    “In the United States, the male to female suicide death ratio varies between 3:1 to 10:1.[16] Typically males die from suicide three to four times more often as females, and not unusually five or more times as often.“ (2)

    “to feeling scared walking home alone at night in a secluded area“ Yes, this is a mild form of sexism, for sure, as a man, I don`t run much risk of being killed, “Males were more likely to be murder victims (76.8%)“(3) …that`s for the states, Canada`s streets are so safe for dudes “The drop in the rate of homicides against males (-12%) was double that for females (-6%)“(4) The irony of that study is that its showing that murder rates have dropped.

    “a man catcalls you in the street` a purely female victim base, that is so common that all you have to do is start typing it into google for some hardcore evidence….http://lmgtfy.com/?q=video+evidence+of+cat+calling …but check out this all female cast of women discussing it http://youtu.be/kjtK3D_Tf8M?t=14s , pay no mind to the guy it starts on, clearly hired by the patriarchy.

    “why do women still only fill 24% of senior management jobs“ “Women are better at collaboration than men, it is claimed, and collaborative behavior can at times appear indecisive or deferential, as recently argued in Collaboration’s Hidden Tax on Women’s Careers, by Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, and Mary Davis Holt.“(5)

    “Why is there still a pay gap (in the UK specifically) of 15% for women doing the same jobs and working the same hours as men?“ “The differences in raw wages may be almost entirely the result of the individual choices being made by both male and female workers“(6) And when it comes to that big question, can I have a raise, who takes the risk…“Experts claim that men are genetically programmed to heed the old saying ‘fortune favours the brave,’ at work, making them twice as adventurous and carefree as female colleagues.“(7)

    “How a lot of newspapers and advertising campaigns will use a sexualised or pornographic image of a woman to sell news or products that have nothing to do with sex?“ Another solely female problem, which is in need of a EQUAL RIGHTS movement that represents its self with a GENDER SPECIFIC NAME…..http://thesocietypages.org/…/2013/10/Screenshot_32.png

    In summary this is a pathetic blogpost, its an appeal to emotion, and is just a lashing out of angry feminist(s) at women who refuses to be radicalized. “Feminism, the radical notion“ indeed, I am quite surprised someone as smart as you would share something like this, I completely understand the point of this article, in fact, she could have said “The western world sets the standard in some aspects of human rights, which requires us to ensure equality“. Isn`t it interesting to watch feminism create this dichotomy, when I was at a feminist rally on campus, the words “Either your with us, or against us“ and “If your not a feminist yet, you should be“ were spoken, pretty chilling stuff.

    (1)http://www.theguardian.com/…/suicide-rates-men-gender…
    (2)http://en.wikipedia.org/…/Gender_differences_in_suicide…
    (3)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_crime…
    (4)http://www.statcan.gc.ca/…/2011001/article/11561-eng.htm
    (5)http://curt-rice.com/…/there-are-only-3-reasons-women…/
    (6)http://www.cbsnews.com/…/the-gender-pay-gap-is-a…/
    (7)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…/Men-twice-as-likely-to…

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  38. MDHH123

    So if your not a feminist, you don’t support equality and equal rights/treatment of women? I am 100% against feminism because of two reasons. One, I have met a good amount of “feminists.” Many of them are rude, distrust men period, blame all their problems on men, and want more power over men. I call them FemNazi’s. Now is that true of all feminists? No, but when I meet a lot of feminists and they all have the same FemNazi attitude, it pretty much puts me off rooting for any movement they represent. And two, I am against movements in general. In today’s society, movements become too emotional, too ideological, always have a slanted agenda etc. However, I am for the treatment and equal rights of women, doesn’t mean I have to support a movement to do so. Oh and by the way, nice use of pure anecdotal evidence that is based on several assumptions. So many assumptions “White western woman, comfortably sized house” or assume “you are an Indian woman,” or “a Pakistani woman…beaten by your father.” I saw little to no statistics or datato support the argument you make. Is there bad treatment of women still going on in other countries today especially in the Middle East? You bet, but do I have to be a feminist to support equality for them? Nope not at all. I will stay away from feminism yet continue to support women’s rights thanks. This whole article just seems like a hit piece against women who refuse to join the feminist movement and that does not help your cause to recruit people into it at all.

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  39. aliendiemme

    Reblogged this on caribbeanalien.

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  40. Daniel

    Thank you for the article and the many enjoyable comments thereafter, it’s wonderful to live in a world where we can all share the world together. As far as Feminism I think it’s unfortunate that Feminists call themselves that, the title itself is misleading. It’s not just about women nor the beautiful differences between the sexes, but about humanity. Demanding women’s rights is required from women yes, since men oppressed them forever, but just fighting for women’s rights alone is a breeding ground for new inequalities. Remember the Russian Revolution? We have to look at both sexes, all races, all humans! And it’s sad that humans need to be constantly reminded to treat each other the same as they would like to be treated. To be treated equally regardless of gender, race, religion or social status. Again, it’s wonderful to live in a world where we can all share the world together.

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  41. lizahl

    http://www.snopes.com/history/american/burnbra.asp
    What other things might anti-feminists be wrong about when it comes to their characterizations of feminism?

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  42. Neden Feminizme İhtiyaç Var ( yada var mı?) | Kitaplık Tozu

    […] Orjinali için: Tıklayınız. […]

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  43. Ulvis Zirnis (@sad_disco)

    There is only one thing I don’t like about the article – the comedy panel shows, being a fan of british ones, they have celebrities, comedians, tv personalities, they ask to participate people, who they think, will have fun with. It’s not sexism it’s selectivism. Jo Brand, for instance, only can speak about her weight – a joke too long,

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  44. » Feminism: even if you don’t need it, someone does

    […] who campaigned for decades to achieve recognition of our rights. A recent blogger writes that “If you don’t think you need feminism, then that is a victory for the movement.” It is not a reason for women to condemn and dismiss it as a “toxic culture.” Followers […]

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  45. Emily

    Amazing article. And too all those in the comments who are speaking against feminism; take a look between your legs, do you have a vagina down there? No? Then please shut your mouth.

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    1. Traverse Davies

      No. You don’t get to silence me simply because you don’t approve of my gender.

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      1. sarahklum

        Thank you and please keep speaking your mind. In a world of equality that I support your voice is as equal as mine on any issue you feel warrants a reply. Thank you for your voice. We can agree, we can disagree but never should one attempt to silence another. Not if the stage is truly about equality.

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    2. Shannon

      Isn’t that attitude precisely what you’re fighting against as a feminist? Why is it acceptable for you to say that to a man, when you’d have a fit if one said it to you?

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    3. suebob

      And yet you’d be the first to shout that you want equality for the sexes. “Honest” you perpetuate the very reason people have denounced feminism. Because you don’t want to be equal, you want to be better. You want to punish all men, as a whole, for ever having power over you, a woman.
      Is it any wonder that when intelligent, well grounded women see a large number of angry feminists screaming about being equal, and then acting in the most hypocritical ways towards a different gender, they step back and think “this isn’t equality, I don’t want this”. There are places on this earth that desperately need people to fight do a woman’s rights. Where they are still treated like property, where their lives mean little or nothing. But the term feminism has been twisted by angry leftists to vent and hate. This is what people are rejecting, not the idea that all humans should be treated equally and fairly.
      And since when does what I’ve got between my legs determine the validity of an argument? Explain how a penis would discredit a valid argument, and a vagina would mean I could call anything I spewed fact? I refer you to Will. Or any feminist argument where one side uses facts, backed up with scources and well balanced argument, and one just screams things are unfair, claiming emotion as fact.

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    4. sarahklum

      So only YOUR freedoms and equality matters?
      If a man dares speak he must be silenced?
      I say equality means freedom for all.
      Freedom of speech does not protect only your speech and is actually meant to protect the speech you don’t want to hear. IE: The KKK says some racial and stupid things but they have freedom of speech. I don’t want to hear people calling my wife a r#dsk#n or calling people of color a n#gg#r. Both words are horribly offensive to me but even the stupid, uneducated, racist people of the KK have rights to speak.

      Last I knew freedom and equality didn’t place men below women in value. That isn’t equality at all my friend. PS: I am woman and my wife and I BOTH speak out against feminism as it stands today.

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  46. emilyhillposts

    Reblogged this on emilyhillposts and commented:
    This is very true and is a reminder to be grateful to what we have achieved in economically developed countries. There is so much more to be done in less well off countries where gender inequality is still rampant!

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  47. Julia Hammer

    feminism is known as the other ‘f’ word;dirty. People see the word itself as unempowered. They don’t want to label themselves with it. It is small-minded, selfish and entitled. I am so grateful to know the real meaning of being a feminist and to be reaping the benefits of women that came before me. This is not some radical lesbian liberal arts college rant. It is a series of truths. We are socialized to hate ourselves and accept our lot in life, but in the U.S. we ARE afforded the freedom to rise above that glass ceiling. We need to make feminism accessible to all and dispel the myths associated with it. This piece was well-written and I’m glad someone took the time to write it. And this was my contribution.

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  48. Cara Coffey

    Completely agree. I am a Christian author.

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  49. morganofthefey

    Reblogged this on MorganOfTheFey and commented:
    A wonderful piece explaining the phenomenon of “Women Against Feminism” also known as “Women Who Haven’t Been Victims (yet)”

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  50. Stevany

    A comfortable western woman saying “I don’t need feminism” is no different to me saying “I don’t need Ebola treatment”. It’s an entirely contextual statement that could be 100% true in one part of the world and entirely fallacious elsewhere. To say “I don’t need Ebola treatment/feminism” IS NOT the same thing as saying “Ebola treatment/feminism has no place in this world”. The writer of this article is incorrectly conflating these two sentiments.

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