A good critique of feminism written in 1914

InfinitelyThirsting · 2010-05-19T16:28:06+00:00

I have a couple of big problems with this. First of all, it hearkens back to how we evolved, saying women were meant to be dependent, when that is only mildly true. Except when very pregnant and right after birth, women have always been the gatherers, and indeed provided the bulk of food in hunter-gatherer times. And then with agriculture, women were still hard workers. It's only amongst the upper classes that women have ever been fully dependent.

Do I agree we should be interdependent? Yes. Has this ever involved the woman just staying at home not doing anything to contribute but take care of the home? No. Not even in most conservative of times. The vast majority of women throughout time have had to work at least part time, and I don't mean just keeping the house--either farming, or weaving, or selling crafts, but directly contributing. Talking about the golden days we've lost and how society is going downhill is just silly.

Also, to then talk about fatherhood, well, if you're going to talk Stone Age style, most siblings were half siblings, because monogamy didn't really occur, as far as we can tell, until agriculture and property. You can't pick and choose and ignore things that don't fit your argument.

So, no, I don't think this is a good critique at all. The gist of it is alright, but its arguments are highly flawed.

ignatiusloyola · 2010-05-18T10:46:58+00:00

Children need parental involvement in their lives, and that is something I think everyone can agree on. Children with paid care givers tend to grow up feeling unloved, and act out these feelings in unproductive ways.

That being said, I see no reason why women have to be the primary care givers and men have to be the primary bread winners. I think there are a variety of solutions that support the family without resorting to the traditional gender roles of the past.

melb22 · 2010-05-19T22:17:23+00:00

[Feminism] is showing woman how she can quite well get along without [a man] and still have everything that she wants - independence, prosperity, the vote, self-support, self-direction, even independent motherhood if she desires it and can afford it.

OH NOOOOOOOOO.

Feminism is a process of putting Father out of business; of deposing him from his position of distinction and responsibility in some woman's little world ... Feminism aims to render him superfluous and unnecessary.

A man's role in life is not defined by how much a woman needs him. I wish people would stop saying that women being more independent makes men superfluous....Yes, women don't need men, but most of them want men... And even still, is the definition of manliness so shallow that when gender roles become less sexist (no more socially, economically and politically powerless women to be protected), there is nothing left? As if.

Leprecon · 2010-05-19T18:12:16+00:00

This completely reminds me of this earlier submission.

TL;DR She basically says how her mother hated her as a child because a child restricts your own freedom. The daughter later becomes happily married and a successful writer. The daughter then starts her own family and because she was so stupid as to want children she was shunned by her mother who now no longer regards her as her child.

Notable highlights; the mother encouraged sex when the daughter was 13, helped her get her first abortion at 14. Never went bra-shopping with her (pretty much the equivalent of a father teaching his son how to shave) There is also mention of a two month vacation without the daughter when she was just a teen. (note, the mother was a single parent so she just left her daughter at some relatives) Then there is also the disapproval from her mother when she was admitted into Yale. Why? Yale is too masculine.

Title	A good critique of feminism written in 1914
Author	melb22
Upvotes	6
Comments	26
Date	May 18, 2010 9:04 AM UTC (16 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/c5h65/a_good_critique_of_feminism_written_in_1914/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/a-good-critique-of-feminism-written-in-1914.1049466 https://theredarchive.com/post/1049466

Comments