The "quotes" on the page say more than any well reasoned paragraph I might have written:
My wife actually respects men. She thinks they are every bit as equal as women. She's great. I'm so lucky. ~ Matt, 35
I would really like to hear the reasoning behind men who won't take their wife's name. ~ Genuinely curious Becky CEO
"My wife refuses to do any cleaning and takes no responsibility for the kids" says Ben. "What should I do?"
Get up earlier, mate.
My sister is interviewing five male MPs for a feature about working fatherhood. What should she ask them?
Career dad? Guilt is your worst enemy. Tackle guilt by making organic baby food from scratch and exfoliating the inner corners of your eyes.
Should men be expected to go running in groups because women might attack them?
Half the population is male, therefore we want up to a quarter of MPs to be male. ~ Sally, CEO
When people say feminism has done it's job, feminists get repetitive or "I am happy to open my own doors"
My answer is no way, nuh uh, feminism is not nearly finished. Equality is still a mirage and for women who are uninterested, check your privilege.
I follow the man who has it all for my daily dose of hilarity and reality. We are nowhere near liberated, let me count the ways but I won't bore you.
ReplyDeleteI'm heading off to an Ostara gathering tonight hosted by *drumroll* feminists in their twenties who see the whole tragic mess of misogyny for what it is. We are going backwards. I had such hope in the sixties and seventies.
XO
WWW
I feel that we are going backwards, too
DeleteI have only felt genuinely discriminated against a few times in my life. The worst was once I was waiting very patiently for my turn at a paint store where the clerk totally ignored me to wait on some males. After taking care of 2 men prior to me he turned to help another. I very politely said, "excuse me but I was here before any of these men. " He apologized and said "I didn't see you" and my reply? I am a fat chick standing right in front to you in an orange sweatshirt. I hardly call that hidden" The other customer applauded and said "touche"
ReplyDeleteFabulous answer from you!
DeleteI recently watched a video about a male to female transitioner. Once she became obviously and unambiguously female she was stunned at the way she was treated. Most of us never experience the contrast
I was fortunate to have such a strong female role model (my mother) that I have always stuck up for myself without realizing it wasn't as easy for other women to do so. My next comment may not sit well with feminists, but I have seen over and over that many women don't want to be assertive because they feel men won't like them anymore, and they can't stand not being attractive to men. In essence, they trade their power for sex appeal. I say if you pretend to be powerless, you will be powerless, and rightfully so. Please note that this DOES NOT apply to all women in all situations. But it's out there, and I think we don't talk about THAT enough. However, there are many, many other women who are truly powerless due to many factors, and we need to keep hammering away at equality for their sakes.
ReplyDeleteWhen women trade their innate power for sex appeal, are they swapping a power they don't understand or trust for one that is usually very reliable, I wonder?
DeleteAnd yes, let's fight for the ones who are truly powerless
"I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men; they are far superior and always have been."
ReplyDelete~ William Golding
It's a great quote! I'm not sure if it's true!
Delete"Half the population is male, therefore we want up to a quarter of MPs to be male." Right on, sister!
ReplyDeleteAs www says, feminism is going backwards not forwards and there is still a mountain to climb. Men everywhere, especially the right-wing ones, are getting more and more ruthless in their attacks on women.
Men have always had privilege over women and often expect it.
DeleteI doubt that feminism is going backwards as much as being lost in the cloud of *other* ideation. Once I understood (sort of) Pansexualism and could not come to grips with a simple proper pronoun use in the attempt to not offend I have now been rendered silent lest I have an *enemies* affidavit sworn out against me by one "group" or another.
ReplyDeleteUsing the right language can be hard. I'm trying to train myself to use "birthing person" rather than woman or mother but it certainly doesn't come naturally
DeleteNot being paid as much as my male counterparts always drove me nuts.... and why is it that as soon as a bloke does a perceived female job, the job is suddenly elevated in importance?
ReplyDeleteSx
Pay disparity is a real problem but I'm not sure how to overcome it. It's now a lot more complicated than hourly rates ....
DeleteSome great responses there! I've been surrounded my whole life by intelligent, powerful woman some who have used those traits in a good way, and some not so much. All I ask for is total equality, and a world where gender is seen differently.
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea of powerful women is one I'm trying to wrap my head around. Are powerful women always equal or are we talking about two different phenomena?
DeleteI'm trying to be educated on gender issues but I'm sure I have far to go....
There are many different kinds of men and many different kinds of women. It's not a case of them and us. It's more complicated than that.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't trying to set up a them & us argument, more like trying to express how there are still many issues that are almost universal to women
DeleteVery illustrative quotations there. When the genders are switched it really brings home how absurd some of these expectations are. Non-feminist women are an interesting phenomenon to me. I tend to presume (as much as possible) good faith and imagine that people have legitimate convictions behind what they do, which makes me wonder why so many women cannot and often consciously refuse to identify with modern feminism. Unless we assume they're all lying or terrible, I think that's worth examining.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to get my head around that, too. Just yesterday I heard a woman say that feminism has f**cked women over. I think that anyone who says that has lost sight of the gains we have made. There's also internalised misogyny contributing.
DeleteA lot of modern feminism has devolved into tribalism and score-settling, per the proliferation of call-out culture, attempts to "cancel" people who aren't doctrinaire enough, and ceaseless attacks on men for completely innocuous behavior (one of the more appalling ones I saw was an article snarkily pointing to male academics' self-citation, while ignoring that the men worked in narrow fields with few contributors and that their female colleagues often did the same thing). Then there's the erasure of men's trauma, the weaponization of the sexist label to stifle debate, the reduction of complex human beings and experiences to identity boxes, and the public shaming of women who won't fall in line. I could go on (and on, and on, and on). Most women and men would support the idea of gender equality. But that ideal has become distinct from a movement whose self-indulgence and plain old mean-spiritedness have turned off a lot of good people. I won't identify as a feminist anymore, either, and for a long time I did. Just tired of watching good individuals get villainized for absolutely no reason.
Delete