Feminism today

[Nimue]

First of all, I'd like to start off by saying that I've always considered myself a feminist: I've always believed in gender equality from a social, political and economical point of view, and believe that we still desperately need it, especially in countries where women have no rights at all. The funny thing is, I always thought that everyone was a feminist, until a few years ago where I realized the negative connotations the word now has: it has become linked to being lesbians, hairy women who burn bras and hate men. Celebrities (and ordinary people too), refuse to associate themselves with the word because of its negative connotations. My question is why? Why has considering yourself a feminist become such a bad thing? Why has it lost its original definition? Who are the people responsible for this? And why do people refuse to believe that today, we still need feminism? Especially considering countries where women can't drive, can't go to school, aren't even considered human beings but only property to be disposed of by men? Being a feminist is not about being against men, it's about being for the rights of women. Any thoughts?

[Deleted]

I think, like many social movements, feminism has become a victim of its own success.  Most of the big battles like the right to vote and the fight against workplace discrimination were hard won, so many people feel that sexism no longer exists (or even worse, the pendulum has swung against men).  With most of the instances of de jure sexism (like women not being able to vote) gone, that mostly just leaves de facto sexism left to fight, things that aren't actually written in law to discriminate against women or are even intended to be discriminatory, but end up having a sexist effect.  Of course, I'm talking about things like the Wage Gap, reproductive rights, media representation, workforce representation, and whatnot.  De jure prejudice is far easier for the uninformed public to understand than de facto prejudice.  The lines are far less blurrier and more importantly, it's far easier to distance yourself from de jure prejudice than de facto prejudice.  (Just look at the "It's just a TV show!" response that people usually give whenever the topic of media representation comes up.  People say that because they feel personally implicated whenever something they like is criticized for being sexist.)

Meanwhile, the Right has been VERY successful in its smear campaign against feminism in recent decades.  Even if somebody doesn't know of or even like Rush Limbaugh's radio show, they still know that "feminazis" are a thing and that feminists are all a bunch of big man-haters.  People who are active online may have also stumbled upon the "Men's Rights Movement" and learned about the modern day crisis of "misandry" and how feminism has turned Western Society into a "matriarchy."  Suffice to say, these groups have been REALLY good at getting their message out.

[Esmeralda]

Jul 10, 2015 13:32:00 GMT -5 @bettynewbie said:

Meanwhile, the Right has been VERY successful in its smear campaign against feminism in recent decades.  Even if somebody doesn't know of or even like Rush Limbaugh's radio show, they still know that "feminazis" are a thing and that feminists are all a bunch of big man-haters.  People who are active online may have also stumbled upon the "Men's Rights Movement" and learned about the modern day crisis of "misandry" and how feminism has turned Western Society into a "matriarchy."  Suffice to say, these groups have been REALLY good at getting their message out.

I've never heard of any of that.

[Deleted]

Jul 11, 2015 9:41:07 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

I've never heard of any of that.

Well, the "Men's Rights Movement" is fairly recent, but it's been gaining in popularity, especially on sites like Reddit.  More recently, it's been linked to several murders of women, including those committed by 22 year old Elliot Rodger back in May 2014.  You can read more about it here.

[Esmeralda]

Not going to follow either link - just not interested.