Dropping by to post a tumblog about why we still need feminism at this day and age when we have apparently "solved" all our gender-related problems. It posts about rape culture, body image, use of demeaning language, the "glass ceiling", the oppression of trans* people, and of men, too - because women's rights are in their essence, human rights.

It is fueled by submissions, so not everything is powerful, but some submissions really do make me shiver.

"I need feminism because yesterday in the cafeteria, a group of men and women I didn't know referred to me as "sugar tits" and began comparing my breast size to different fruits and when I told my friends about this they told me I should be "flattered"."

"I'm tired of looking over my shoulder when I walk home alone at night. "

"I need feminism because it took me seventeen years to hear what the definition of a feminist is." (in my case, 18!)

"I need feminism because I had anorexia and despite all the pain and horror I would be going through every single person in the world would congratulate me for my weight loss every day. When I finally started to recover, feel happier and put on weight, every single person in the world would give me unsolicited diet tips."

"Because men are afraid to come forward as sexual assault victims, because we're conditioned to believe that seeking help, no matter how much we need it, is "unmanly" - which is, of course, a fate worse than death in our society.
...
Every human being in this society is a victim of sexism, wether we realize it or not.

When you create a hierarchy such that one sex is "greater", and pressure them to behave a certain way to defend their status as such, they lose. When you determine that one sex is "lesser", they lose for all the obvious reasons, and thensome. And when you factor in the gender minorities?you have a society where everyone is being shat upon."

That tumblr is a fucking joke. It's a bunch of people who are either

a) Insecure about their appearance and get angry at the rest of the world for not saying that they're perfect.
b) People whining about issues that don't exist anymore.
c) People with women's studies majors whining that there is literally no job in which said degree will help.
d) People who are angry that the world doesn't care about their strong opinions.
e) Fucking idiots.


Your counselor is doing you a favor.


I need feminism because I can't accept the fact that I'm paranoid.


Maybe that's because very few women are physically strong enough to carry a 300 pound man out of a burning house?


Nobody cares about your strong opinions.


Seeing as men bring in countless more money than women as far as athletes go, that's a really good percentage.


Twenty bucks says this person is making no effort to become a CEO and help fix this "issue".

What's really silly is all of these women whining about weight issues. Because no man has ever been called fat, nope, that is purely a female issue.

TLDR; I have too much free time and that tumblr is stupid.

Written by [user id=111774] on 22.04.2012 at 02:44

Reasons.

These are all very good opinions Void.

*high five*

Agreed with Void - that blog misrepresents feminism in a terrible way.

Just because you're life is hard as a woman doesn't mean it's a feminist issue. IT'S BECAUSE LIFE CAN BE FUCKING HARD. Get over yourself.

Legitimate feminist issues irk me just as much as any legitimate issue irks me, but these little posts are just infuriating.

And let it be known that I am not opposed to a world where people of both genders have equal opprotunity-If a women who is more qualified than a man is denied a job based on gender, well that's wrong, obviously. However, forced equality, where an employer has to have at least x amount of women employed is just as bad, as it denies a more qualified male a job based on gender. And on a similar note, if the reason that only 3% of CEO's are women is because "the system" won't allow women to rise to the top, that's wrong, but if everybody is given a fair shot and only 3% of people who manage to get that high happen to be women, then that's not because of the system, but because of the individuals.

http://www.the-niceguy.com/articles/EvilGuyHateful.html
This is an incredibly stupid website about some guy who thinks that because he's nice to women thinks that they should all be begging to fuck him, and since they don't, he hates them, and don't think for a second that I agree with him, 99% of what he says is idiotic. However, this particular post has a lot quotes by well known feminists that display exactly why I can't stand it. I particularly like this one, by Catherine MacKinnon- "All sex, even consensual sex between a married couple, is an act of violence perpetrated against a woman."

#strongopinionsfromadolanfan

Oh, and fuck trying to force people to be overtly skinny. Fat people are gross and unhealthy, but people who are to skinny/anorexic are way worse. I can't see a picture of an anorexic person without getting lightheaded, and sometimes passing out. It's horrible.

Written by [user id=111774] on 22.04.2012 at 05:31

And on a similar note, if the reason that only 3% of CEO's are women is because "the system" won't allow women to rise to the top, that's wrong, but if everybody is given a fair shot and only 3% of people who manage to get that high happen to be women, then that's not because of the system, but because of the individuals.

No, it's because society tells women from age zero they should be happy if they marry CEOs and presidents, and not if they become CEOs and presidents. Ever heard of the 10 000 hours theory? It says that you need 10 000 hours to become really good at something. If you give your son a lego rocket at age 3, a "science for kids" book at the age of seven, tune him in to watch the Discovery channel at the age of ten while you feed your daughter's brain with nothing but Barbies and Disney movies, you can guess who's gonna become a scientist first?

Insecure about their appearance? Yeah, it's because everyone tells you you're not good enough from age zero as well. It's because perfectly normal women with perfectly normal bodies are trained into thinking they're disgusting. It's because I've been there, being ashamed of my own physical presence, of my existence, because I don't fit a certain size of pants, even though I'm a sound and sane person who never judged others for their looks. It's because my mom lost 25 lbs while recovering from her brain operation and when everyone asked her how she did it, their conclusion was "boy, I wish I was sick so I could lose that much weight". Yes, literally, you're trained into thinking that it would be better to have to go through a life-threatening condition than have an ounce of fat on your body. As for your "disgust", I'm sorry you think people with medical conditions are disgusting. I'm sure they'd think you were disgusting too, if you told them.

Having a world where 99% women are insecure about their appearance because they look human is a great way for cashing in on unnecessary cosmetics, diet pills, etc. And there is a world of possibilities open for making men insecure too, and someday, maybe, your little son will feel inadequate for not having washboard abs at the age of ten. Do you want a world like that? It takes a huge effort of the brain to break away from the indoctrination you've been fed ever since you were little. Tell me "but you don't have to care what anyone else thinks" and I'll just facepalm and never talk to you again. Because, if it were easy like that, you wouldn't have a world where people are religiously, politically and culturally indoctrinated.

Issues that don't exist anymore? Name them and I could confirm they exist.

As for being paranoid, I'm sorry I'm paranoid too, because there's creepers at every corner of the park. I'm sorry I have to hold hands with my boyfriend or go with my male best friends so that I don't get catcalled just because I have tits. I'm sorry that I have to worry what will my drunk neighbors do when I get into an elevator with them. I'm sorry every woman everywhere is catcalled or inappropriately touched on a regular basis, and I'm sorry society shames girls that get raped and claim it's "their fault". It's also the reason why men who get raped, can't admit it and get help. If each and every one of you were sorry too, maybe we could fix that problem, but apparently we're all PARANOID and we should feel flattered that a stranger in the street wants to have sex with us... go figure.

Overall, if your philosophy is "I'm all for equality, BUT..." get the fuck out. Did I ever say each one of these issues is a legitimate one? No, there are first world problems and pet peeves. But I did highlight some issues women go through every day just because they're women, and for nothing else. And, you know what, if society allows for the existence of these pet peeves - if you have men and WOMEN tell you that if your hair is short you're a lesbian, try to tell you how much makeup to wear, how to dress, with whom to have sex with, which jobs and interests are "girly" and which are "boyish"... there's only a few steps more to a society where one sex is oppressed in every possible way. And where your own, male sex, is also oppressed for not being 100% masculine all of the time. I wish you guys could see that. I wish you guys could see that not only men are trained to think "it's no big deal, women can get jobs and it's not like rape happens every day, and I like curvy/overly skinny women so they won't feel insecure when I tell them", women are trained to feel the same way about other women too. And that's the only reason why you have aggressive feminists who hate men and would like to turn the world around. They're fuckin' angry.

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 09:49
tl;dr

Men have problems/pressures/stereotypes to live up to as well. People these days are just so damn sensitive.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 22.04.2012 at 14:17

Men have problems/pressures/stereotypes to live up to as well. People these days are just so damn sensitive.

Yes. And maybe, just maybe, if we eradicated gender-based prejudice from the ground up (starting with the "unimportant" issues such as demeaning language and body image pressures), you guys wouldn't be pressured to "act like men" and "man up" 100% of the time. Maybe someday we could cure the extreme oppression of women that goes on in developing countries as well. Although, I don't expect of you to fully understand. "If you want to know what misogyny is, don't ask a man. If you want to know what racism is, don't ask a white man" etc.

I agree with most of what you say there

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 09:49

Issues that don't exist anymore? Name them and I could confirm they exist.

The lack of freedom of speech. Today's feminine wiles are nothing in comparison with the past, not that I would use that as justification, just an observation. Women today may be subject to indoctrination and and various arguably unfair expectations but they are by no means totally restricted in what they say to society at large. The fact that feminism itself exists is evidence of this.

To me some feminists come off like an like an overbearing mother over her child. She grabs us by the ear and points to an error we have supposedly made, saying "Look what you've done, aren't you ashamed of yourself?" As you correctly point out its the dog (i.e. society) who is actually to blame.

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 09:49

If each and every one of you were sorry too, maybe we could fix that problem, but apparently we're all PARANOID and we should feel flattered that a stranger in the street wants to have sex with us... go figure.

When you say "each and everyone of you" I do hope you're not referring to the entirety of the male gender? And who in their right mind suggested that you should be flattered by that?!? O_O Who honestly tells someone, "hey that questionable looking hobo is eyeing you up, you should take that as a compliment."?

Written by R'Vannith on 22.04.2012 at 14:37

When you say "each and everyone of you" I do hope you're not referring to the entirety of the male gender? And who in their right mind suggested that you should be flattered by that?!? O_O Who honestly tells someone, "hey that questionable looking hobo is eyeing you up, you should take that as a compliment."?

No, I wasn't, I was referring to people that disagree with that. If you wander into that tumblog, you'll see, for example, a woman who posted that, when she admitted she was raped, the first thing she was told was "she should be grateful someone wanted to have sex with her". And the "sugar tits" example I posted above.

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 14:42
...the first thing she was told was "she should be grateful someone wanted to have sex with her".

It's the Internet. Nobody's safe, and no topic is safe from trolling. I'm not saying don't talk about it because you're just gonna get those kinds of responses, I'm just saying those are a few obvious examples of people having fun with a taboo subject.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 22.04.2012 at 15:04

It's the Internet. Nobody's safe, and no topic is safe from trolling. I'm not saying don't talk about it because you're just gonna get those kinds of responses, I'm just saying those are a few obvious examples of people having fun with a taboo subject.

No, this was in "real life".

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 14:22
Although, I don't expect of you to fully understand.

When you force a stereotype on people (men) it perpetuates the belief that said stereotype is "the norm", or commonplace.

Feminists continue to perpetuate the belief that "men" don't fully understand. (You should talk to Patrick Stewart about that, I'm sure he totally agrees with you.)

Feminists also continue to perpetuate the belief that "they" are being repressed/oppressed. That means the "average" man grows up believing that feminists being repressed/oppressed is "the norm", or commonplace. It's a self-defeatist movement when the lot of feminists cast narrow-minded stereotypes at those who would otherwise be willing to listen and/or help.

I believe in feminist issues that pertain to our government trying to strip women of the right to choose whether or not to give birth or abort, or whether or not they should be allowed to purchase their own means of birth control. However, those beliefs mostly stem from religious idiocies and are not necessarily limited to the scope of sexism.

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 15:07
No, this was in "real life".

Regardless. Not everyone cares that your dog died if you know what I mean. We don't mourn everyone else's problems.

It's sad to see shit like that happen but at the end of the day you're not going to get a completely uniform response to whatever it is you're experiencing. Some people will cry with you, laugh at you, or ignore you.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 22.04.2012 at 15:09

Feminists continue to perpetuate the belief that "men" don't fully understand. (You should talk to Patrick Stewart about that, I'm sure he totally agrees with you.

I believe in feminist issues that pertain to our government trying to strip women of the right to choose whether or not to give birth or abort, or whether or not they should be allowed to purchase their own means of birth control. However, those beliefs mostly stem from religious idiocies and are not necessarily limited to the scope of sexism.

Well of course men don't fully understand. They aren't oppressed in the same scope and in the same ways women are. This is not complaining or "boo hoo you don't understand me", this is just stating a fact you can sympathize, but never know how it feels like and in which ways it manifests itself.

And if it was strictly religious lunacy, why is all the fuss about birth control pills for women instead of other means of contraception? Why is it, when a college student states birth control pills are useful for women's health, this happens?

Written by Troy Killjoy on 22.04.2012 at 15:10

Regardless. Not everyone cares that your dog died if you know what I mean. We don't mourn everyone else's problems.

It's sad to see shit like that happen but at the end of the day you're not going to get a completely uniform response to whatever it is you're experiencing. Some people will cry with you, laugh at you, or ignore you.

Not everyone "cares", but if your family/friends/doctor tells you you should be grateful someone wanted to have sex with you, that you should be grateful for having to survive a life-wrecking experience because someone finds you sexually attractive and that it is the most important thing, I think they're an awful person and a hateful bastard. Imagine you got raped by a man and someone said "well at least/last someone finds you good enough to have sex with". That is just the most fucked up thing I've ever heard.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 22.04.2012 at 15:09

Feminists continue to perpetuate the belief that "men" don't fully understand.

I daresay they are right in some cases. Ironically though some of them don't fully understand the situation themselves.

In fact its pretty bold of anyone to claim to fully understand the situation.

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 15:17
And if it was strictly religious lunacy, why is all the fuss about birth control pills for women instead of other means of contraception? Why is it, when a college student states birth control pills are useful for women's health, this happens?

Sorry, I can't answer your question because you won't be able to understand it from your female perspective.

It's nice that you could sympathize, but it's a fact you just wouldn't know how it feels.

That's basically what you're saying.

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 15:17

Well of course men don't fully understand.

Implying that feminists have a flawless grasp of the issues themselves?

Written by R'Vannith on 22.04.2012 at 15:23

Implying that feminists have a flawless grasp of the issues themselves?

I'm not implying that. I'm just saying that if you're oppressed on the grounds of something, you'll know what that oppression feels like and a person who hasn't been oppressed for the exact same thing will not.

Written by R'Vannith on 22.04.2012 at 15:21

In fact its pretty bold of anyone to claim to fully understand the situation.

Anyway, this is a very interesting thought, and I think the only people who come close to fully understanding the situation are the people who get oppressed a lot.

We will never have a full understanding of the situation because bigotry is so embedded in our society; however, if you really want to know about the different ways women are oppressed, ask women who are an ethnic/sexual minority, or women who are 30-50 years old that don't have a husband, kids and careers, or those who do but "neglect" either of them for the other.

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 16:04

Written by R'Vannith on 22.04.2012 at 15:21

In fact its pretty bold of anyone to claim to fully understand the situation.

Anyway, this is a very interesting thought, and I think the only people who come close to fully understanding the situation are the people who get oppressed a lot.

We will never have a full understanding of the situation because bigotry is so embedded in our society; however, if you really want to know about the different ways women are oppressed, ask women who are an ethnic/sexual minority, or women who are 30-50 years old that don't have a husband, kids and careers, or those who do but "neglect" either of them for the other.

And what's more even those who experience these things to personal extremes may find themselves a little, or perhaps a great deal, confused by why they happen to be in such situations. Experience alone doesn't guarantee a full understanding of such experience. It is human to be confused and to question various things in our lives.
You're certainly right though if you want to find the most likely source of some definitive answers you head to those who have experienced it first hand and to significant levels.

Some of the examples in that tumblog certainly don't appear to be significant at all, some do. Some seem to place hope in a word, that word being "feminism", rather than addressing what exactly it is that leads to their particular problems. Granted feminism is a worthy cause to be involved in to eradicate some of these problems but not in all cases, some of those problems can only be addressed by considering a more broad range of social phenomena than simply the inequality between genders or the various social restrictions which occur around each respective gender. And some of those problems may be deemed such depending on particular perspectives, one person may see it as a problem, others not.

Written by R'Vannith on 23.04.2012 at 12:02

Granted feminism is a worthy cause to be involved in to eradicate some of these problems but not in all cases, some of those problems can only be addressed by considering a more broad range of social phenomena than simply the inequality between genders or the various social restrictions which occur around each respective gender. And some of those problems may be deemed such depending on particular perspectives, one person may see it as a problem, others not.

I think feminism, and inclusive feminism in particular, can be a useful tool to solving a lot of these issues connected to problems women have, whether they are chiefly caused by their gender or caused by something else as well as gender. I also think those "unimportant" issues such as demeaning speech should be solved first in order for us to open the "gate" and talk about things such as why, almost 50 years later after the "equal pay" law, women are still paid less than men. But maybe we'll only succeed in exchanging one problem for another... political correctness hasn't solved the problems of racism or nationalism, for example.

But yeah, a lot of people are complaining about basic human douchebaggery, and not the one directed at women in particular.

Written by Milena on 23.04.2012 at 12:36

But maybe we'll only succeed in exchanging one problem for another... political correctness hasn't solved the problems of racism or nationalism, for example.

That's true, new social problems crop up all the time, or old ones return. Though some it seems just won't die, gender inequality being one. Only a multitude of voices can shift things, which is obviously what things like that tumblog are gearing for, raising awareness that these things still occur around us.

Written by Milena on 22.04.2012 at 16:04

Written by R'Vannith on 22.04.2012 at 15:21

In fact its pretty bold of anyone to claim to fully understand the situation.

however, if you really want to know about the different ways women are oppressed, ask women who are an ethnic/sexual minority, or women who are 30-50 years old that don't have a husband, kids and careers, or those who do but "neglect" either of them for the other.

Well, Serbia is not fully developed modernly humanly, the ex Commies, so... but I'm sure if you in US or some high human rights or respected-individualist country, then you are woman you can do what ever you want, I have been in US, there they never ask a woman who is married/have kids or not, careers are equal. I understand the pressure on women like you describe, but there are probably better environment like I describe

Written by FOOCK Nam on 23.04.2012 at 19:05

Well, Serbia is not fully developed modernly humanly, the ex Commies, so... but I'm sure if you in US or some high human rights or respected-individualist country, then you are woman you can do what ever you want, I have been in US, there they never ask a woman who is married/have kids or not, careers are equal. I understand the pressure on women like you describe, but there are probably better environment like I describe

Some current events in the USA (the women's health and contraception flame war) show that, while the USA is much ahead of my country, they still have a deeply rooted problem.

Written by Milena on 23.04.2012 at 19:19
Some current events in the USA (the women's health and contraception flame war) show that, while the USA is much ahead of my country, they still have a deeply rooted problem.

That's because the Republican party uses a waning faith in Obama as fuel to sway the average on-the-fence citizens, and then come out with their ridiculous bills and such.

It's not like the entire country wants to make abortion or contraception illegal. It's only religious fanatics, hicks from the South, and ya - probably some sexist assholes. On the whole though it's a problem that isn't as relative to specific people as it is an issue perpetuated by political and religious parties.

As for why they don't target men the same as women - that's because in most religions the man is the dominant species. Or at least that's how most mainstream religions seem to paint it. Again, the feminist issues you bring up don't really seem to have much place in the average household, but they do exist when you look into politics and religion.

I'm kind of tired this point is probably not being illustrated clearly. :/

Written by FOOCK Nam on 07.07.2010 at 20:03

What women feminist want more , , you can work whatever job, femininely or masculinely, already had female president, queen, female mafia leader, etc, ...you reach every power you want, but on the whole perspective as the world, , you cant rule the world, simply because you cant beat men . Sound cliche but the ones who beat the others are the ones who protect and serve the beaten. The fact that throughout history that men are the one who went to war protecting family/country, more self-sacrifying,...so more priviledge of being ruler placed in subconscious of mighty animal race human being. The zeal of gender power over each other drive hatred come but logically, men are dominant on the big aspect of the whole human world. If feminist want to change it reversely, go until beat men, if you can

I repost my one long a go, hope it helps the disscussion,

Written by Troy Killjoy on 23.04.2012 at 19:32

That's because the Republican party uses a waning faith in Obama as fuel to sway the average on-the-fence citizens, and then come out with their ridiculous bills and such.

It's not like the entire country wants to make abortion or contraception illegal. It's only religious fanatics, hicks from the South, and ya - probably some sexist assholes. On the whole though it's a problem that isn't as relative to specific people as it is an issue perpetuated by political and religious parties.

As for why they don't target men the same as women - that's because in most religions the man is the dominant species. Or at least that's how most mainstream religions seem to paint it. Again, the feminist issues you bring up don't really seem to have much place in the average household, but they do exist when you look into politics and religion.

I'm kind of tired this point is probably not being illustrated clearly. :/

I'm not really talking about proposing such laws, although the fact they were proposed is fuckin' nonsense, I was talking about, for instance, Rimbaugh or whatever his name is, trashing a young girl for speaking out against them and the internet commenters calling her a dirty skank.

I don't know, I'm tired too. Some things are global, some things are restricted to households, some things are religiously driven. Sometimes you don't have to be sexist to put a pressure on women, and sometimes women are the biggest advocates against their own sex and the biggest sexists, and sometimes people go too far in trying to solve all this by turning to misandry. These opinions that proclaim one is more than the other are deeply, deeply rooted, and every minority group - gender, sexual, religious, economic, racial - is being shat upon, which leaves us with white, rich, Christian males who are also being shat upon for not holding up to the "white knight" standard in every possible sense of the word.

People suck balls.

Written by Milena on 23.04.2012 at 20:16
People suck balls.

That's just it. I find feminism to be one little branch of "we don't like how we're being treated", while literally every group of people is subject to the same treatment, just in a different way.

Every race/religion/tax bracket/sexual orientation has its own pressures and issues. As much as feminists raise legitimate concerns over how they're treated, it's not like the rest of the world is counting unicorns and rainbows.