Monday, July 8, 2013

Feminism?

Feminism. It's... It's a word that comes loaded with prejudice, no matter whose ear it reaches. Both bad and good stereotypes. Women tend to look up to feminists, though not all do. Men might, or then again, may not. Feminism is very controversial, if anything. Men typically have a terrible image of feminists. People tend to cling on to negatives, while the positives quickly fade from memory.

When I hear feminism, I think of dried up and sex-deprived bloggers. That's the best way I can put it. Hear me out, though. There's lots of bad feminism, and the good feminists are fighting for gender equality, not actual feminism. If they were the same, it wouldn't be called feminism. Ism:s (Buddhism, socialism, capitalism, alcoholism.) are all different systems of belief. For an alcoholic, there's a God in the bottle. For a capitalist, there is a God in the money. For a feminist, (Femme; latin for woman) there is a God in the woman. And no, I don't think it's silly to bring that up. The words we use are very representative.

I don't like discussing feminism. What's the counterpart? Male chauvinism, Masculinism, you probably haven't heard of them, and Google didn't bring up many other examples.

That's why calling it feminism is wrong. The word needs to go. It undermines what the regular feminist would strive for, which is gender equality.

In truth, gender equality isn't something that women fight for. Equality is an agreement, a mutual understanding of trust and care, between the men and women of the world. Equality has to come from both genders. I am someone who believes in this, and that makes it awkward for me to call myself a feminist. There is no sameness without a counterpart, and it doesn't make sense to use a word that only accounts for one side.

Today's feminism, tomorrows gender equality, it's not about bringing women out of the shadow of the men (or the so called patriarchy), it's about the two meeting at the same level, gaining common ground.

It's about eliminating gender based stereotypes altogether. It's about making everyone happy, not just the men, or the women, no matter the gender. I don't support feminism, I support gender equality.



Oh, the two-faced world we live in. Have you seen the men in media lately? 

I mean, people think H&M's photoshopped female models set us up with false ideals. While that is true, what most don't realize is that the media pressure upon men is just as large. There is one kind of sexy man in the media, and a thousand kinds of ugly man. The sexy man has a large junk, ripped abdominals, no chest hair, and definitely isn't bald. If you don't fill these criteria, your worth as a man, as landscaped by the Western media, is nonexistent.



And that's why its important that we don't fight for feminism, but gender equality. Both are about inducing a change of attitude in society, and progression is the key. So please, if equal rights is what you fight for, don't call yourself a feminist.

7 comments:

  1. I've stumbled across a couple feminist-themed blogs in my days...

    http://trettiotreanledningar.com/

    This one struck me as particularly nasty. Why? This blog isn't about gender equality, its about making women hate men, which is just too sad. Rights through revolt, it's about making women angry.

    Gender equality is all about bringing the two genders together. This is fighting fire with fire. "Trettiotreanledningar" is the epitome of losing sight of your goals.

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    1. I've actually stumbled across that blog in particular myself, through this one guy on youtube that happened to refute those thirtythree supposed reasons.

      The scary thing is that that is not even close to the worst of feminism that I've come across. I feel like the real "feminazis" (to use a strong term), are mentally insane.

      Don't get me wrong though, I'm not in the least against women.

      I actually intended to make an entry about this very subject at some point, but having written about it so well, you just rendered the task superfluous ;)

      Sometimes it for some reason feels like taboo to not like feminism (I don't mean the good that they can do, but as you said, it's rooted firsthand in the name itself). I understand the good that it did in its time of glory, but modern feminism seems to create more problems from nothing than solve ones that are universal issues.


      It's good to see that someone thinks like me on this subject. The point is not to make both sexes the same, but to give them equal rights, also on a cultural level. The genders will never be the same, since they cannot be physically, so why would some people even want to accomplish that?

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    2. Yeah, I remember back a couple months ago, some people shared it on Facebook... Myself and a friend read it back then, and ever since, I've wanted to write this entry.

      The thing with that blog is, that it gives a completely one-sided and ignorant view of society today. The writer seems to refuse to acknowledge that many of the points she makes in her list of 33 reasons are issues that affect men just as much as they affect women. While I understand that this is a feministic blog, fighting for women in particular, this is a destructive mentality and is exactly the kind of blog that has made the word "feminist" into an insult in today's society.

      And yes, its very taboo to hate on feminism. That irony alone makes everything feminists fight for today a joke.


      I'm sure you've noticed how women are very rarely accused of being sexist. Can a black man be racist? Yes. Can a woman be sexist? Yes, she can. Is she as likely to be sexist as a man? Definitely. But we're not allowed to talk about it in the same way women do, and that's why you rarely hear about women being sexist.

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    3. I'm really happy to hear more people be this sensible about it. I can agree that feminism might have had a bigger and more understandable role in the past (seeing as women did not even have the right to vote), but in today's society its concept no longer works. I very strongly believe that we ought to stop talking about things such as "feminism" or "men's rights" etc., and focus on what we ACTUALLY should be trying to achieve - gender equality.
      (And as a woman, it feels even more taboo not to be supportive of feminism. I wish more people could see how little sense feminism makes though when compared to true gender equality.)
      (@Alexander, TheAmazingAtheist?)

      Great post, as always!

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    4. Yes, Indeed :)

      I've been following TheAmazingAtheist for probably around four to five years now. I don't agree on everything that he says, but his reputation outside of his fan base is probably a hundred times worse than the actual man himself is :P

      It's funny (actually, sad) how feminists often seem to believe that matters like the way women are portrayed on magazines would be more important to fix than the horrible ways that women actually are treated in some countries. In certain places the old type of feminism would still be a good start; it's difficult to focus on gender equality from both sides when one of the sexes are obviously oppressed to such a ridiculous level already. In Western society on the other hand... But I don't think I'll comment any further. I feel like I'd just be repeating things already mentioned in this post ;)

      I might still make an entry about feminism at some point if I feel like it, but that is a future matter :D

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    5. What I think feminism as a movement needs to do is just take a step back - Look at what they've accomplished, look at what they want to accomplish, and just filter out all the extra that has made feminism so frowned upon in history. The fault lies in the methods, because the cause is just. Gender equality is something that everyone should feel obliged to strive for.

      As for the Western way of portraying women in the media... This isn't a problem that only affects women, and a social movement fighting for basic rights for everyone really hasn't got anything to do with it. While this body-culture in the media does cause problems, especially for the young and insecure, we really do have more pressing issues to deal with. In a world where we deal with global warming, a struggling economy, and the collapse of our world as we know it along with the last of our fossil fuel reserves, we really do have more important things to think about than magazine covers and photoshopped clothing models.

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