Reading through a number of posts in the ‘Biker Angels’ Forum of late has raised a number of (surprisingly) strong reactions in me with regards to differing peoples opinions and reactions to the (IMHO) misuse / misinterpretation of the term ‘feminism’ and that in turn has left me pondering if we REALLY understand what is, or (and more importantly), what it means if anything, to us as women.
So - What is ‘feminism’ to you?
A doctrine that advocates equal rights for all women (regardless of age, ethnicity etc)?
An outdated concept / theory that was started in the 19th century and has no validity in this day and age?
A social movement that attempts to address, analyse and interpret issues of particular importance for women (e.g. domestic violence, pay equity, globalisation)?
A movement started by power crazy ‘hairy lesbians’ for the purpose of mocking and putting down all men on this earth?
Something else entirely?
Just to set you thinking a wee bit (and hopefully to slow down the initial reactions!) I have done a wee bit of looking around on the interwebby thingy and found the following quotes that may be of interest (note they are selective quotes for the purpose of generating debate - to get the full context just follow the links).
"Modern feminist theory has been criticized as being predominantly, but not exclusively, associated with Western middle-class academia. Feminist activism, however, is a grass-roots movement that seeks to cross boundaries based on social class, race, culture, and religion. It is culturally specific and addresses issues relevant to the women of that society: for example female circumcision in Sudan, or the glass ceiling in developed economies. Some issues, such as rape, incest, and mothering, are universal. "http://www.womensstudies.eku.edu/what/
"……as long as Women's History and African American History are independent curricula, history itself will still be a white man's story. In that same way, the women's rights movement will have been successful when we no longer have to advocate separately for half the population's human rights. On the other hand, ideally women's egos would be more invested in their work. You can't continue change if you don't know the process necessary to make it. If feminists first exposed domestic violence as a reality in many women's lives, funded the first women's shelters, and drafted and fought for legislation that is now working to end violence against women, then an "advocate to end violence against women" (Sam Allison's term for herself) is just another word for "feminist." Issues divorced from their feminist roots eventually become depoliticized, and the resulting social programs are reduced to treating the symptoms rather than curing-or preventing-the disease. In order to have a robust movement, domestic violence and economic development need to be re-identified as feminist issues and victories. " http://www.feminist.com/resources/ar.../whatisfem.htm
"In Manhood Redux, C.H. Freedman writes of the "ultimate discrimination" in his chapter entitled "Arlington Cemetery: The Ultimate Male- Chauvinist Preserve." There, he relates men's horror stories of war, comparing them to women's "horror stories" of sexism. Essentially a comparison of male grief to female anger, he demonstrates well how much more value our society assigns to female anger.
For the indignity of being called "little girl," he notes, many courts "are wont to assume" it's "worth perhaps $50,000 in compensation." (Manhood Redux, C.H. Freedman, p 135) But how much, he asks, was it worth for frightened young draftees in Vietnam to be told they were going to be used as bait?
How much is it worth to be told your life is worth less than a can of worms or a dozen frozen bait herring? How much, to hear members of the opposite sex tell you your healthy sexual desires are bad because you're a heterosexual male? How much, to suffer hundreds of rejections by members of the opposite sex?
During the past 25 years, these have contributed to the grief men commonly feel: rejection, denigration, callous dismissal. How much are they worth?
Few women want to hear about this because then they'd have to confront that, contrary to the popular pop-feminist message that men deserve to be treated like inhuman, rapacious beasts, we bleed, we hurt, often women make us cry, and we die. " http://www.jtest28.com/Grief.html
".....Of course the irony is that in all their rushing toward "female empowerment" (hmm...) they basically *dumped* what made them feminine, and glorified masculinity even more by imitating it. It seems to me like now women have claimed that for themselves, and now men are in some weird in-between - not allowed to act like "traditional men," and also (STILL) not really allowed to have feminine characteristics. It's like everybody's trying to be everything, sort of. Meanwhile, everyone is promiscuous, half the kids out there are accidents, and there are no families anymore because everybody's too busy having fun to raise kids properly.
I really don't know what the gender roles are anymore (Does anyone?) but I know that women have really put themselves into a bind. Now they have to be providers *and* beautiful sex objects, but they may still be considered "sluts," and modesty and virginity are no longer options, because that makes them "prudes." I don't know what the male situation is, but I'd suspect it is similarly confused." http://www.jtest28.com/Interesting_post.html
And finally
"Feminism - I myself have never known what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat." -Rebecca West, 1913
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Originally Posted by Her_B4
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