The Problem with American Feminism

Zekuro · 2019-08-15T11:49:33+00:00

There are a lot of good things on this article, but it's not perfect. Clearly, she still lives in the feminist narrative.

To get into the core of what I'm trying to say...

By the same line of thinking, does it make sense to call yourself a feminist if you believe in the equality of the sexes, but are not actively working to liberate women from oppressive power structures?

(oh yeah, gender equality => fight for women only)

Or...

Were women widely oppressed here, once, and not long ago? Most certainly.

(oh yeah, men were widely oppressing women not long ago huh)

Or...

I’m not saying that things are perfect for women and girls in the United States. We still have a lot of work to do. But I don’t believe we’ll ever reach a utopic future where things are “perfect” for women and girls. There will always be cases of sexism and rape

(oh yeah, there is still a lot to do before women are as privilegied as men, and of course men will always be sexist and they will always rape women)

Or...

I believe every culture will, at some point in its history, need a movement like feminism when it’s finally ready to fling off the bonds of patriarchy.

(oh yeah...every culture is just a mess of a patriarchy)

Or...

and after that, addressed truly minor concerns like mansplaining and microaggression?

(oh yeah, mansplaining is a real issue that is relevant to women's right)

Of course I'm cherrypicking - and kinda cheating since I don't spend hours explaining why each of those statement are more or less ridiculous to me.

White_Mlungu_Capital · 2019-08-15T13:17:23+00:00

The problem is not feminism. The problem are American women and wimpy men.

Notice American women ignore all the parts of feminism about equality like paying equally, pursuing equally, doing the work equally?

I've seen American women use things not related to feminism , like say religion, to tell men to "man up" and "take care of your wife", I've seen conservative American women say men need to "man up and marry women". Even under a chivalrous system, they'd tell you all the ways to "man up" and do whatever advantages them. And why does this all occur? Wimpy men. Once they stopped allowing you to physically discipline your wife, it was all down hill from there.

American and British men are wimps. They are so thirsty for vagina that they are scared to lose the woman they have and say anything that might offend her. The woman predictably acts like a spoil child who no one says no to and they make increasingly insane demands. The irony is that if the thirsty dudes were just saying no and playing the field and got some game, they'd not have to act this way.

tenchineuro · 2019-08-15T21:29:14+00:00

As has been mentioned, she's still a feminist.

Were women widely oppressed here, once, and not long ago? Most certainly. Were women still oppressed in other parts of the world? Absolutely. But I could drive a car, vote, get an education, enter any career field I wanted, and (arguably) get paid the same as a man. Would there be challenges? Yes. Were there some sexists out there who wanted me to stay at home, to be quiet, to not make any waves? Unfortunately, yes, but they had no power over me.

But she has a few issues...

Maybe the problem wasn’t feminism itself. Maybe it had something to do with me. All I knew was I couldn’t relate to the culture of pussy hats, the Women’s March, #BelieveWomen, the creeping influence of Marxist ideology, outright rejection of pro-life women, online vitriol, and the overblown sensitivity to what I saw as minor offenses. I saw all these things and thought, “This isn’t me.”

Not, this is wrong, but this isn't me. Still, a step in the right direction.

Is this what it means to be a feminist? Ignoring evidence if it doesn’t fit your preconceived narrative of victimhood and oppression? This mindset from my peers bore an unsettling resemblance to the fundamentalism of my youth—the evangelicals who ignored the evidence for climate change or evolution because it didn’t match their worldview.

Yes, this what it means to be a feminist. Nice comparison to Catholicism too, but she neglected to mention that feminism is just as dogmatic.

I was disturbed, too, by the way the feminist community ousted Laci Green, an online sex educator who committed the egregious sin of talking to and being friends with anti-feminists. She was willing to talk with people who saw the world differently than she did. And this was…bad, somehow? Laci was also vilified for using words in unapproved ways, and for questioning the idea that speech could be equivalent to violence.

I would think that Cassie Jaye would be a better example here, but no matter.

And here is the crux of the matter, she only sees women as people.

Feminism in the United States has become a trendy, even profitable subculture of hashtags, celebrity endorsements, and slogans on a multitude of products like T-shirts, pillows, and mugs. A young woman in my country today can go to school to become a doctor or scientist while wearing a “Fuck the Patriarchy” hoodie. Meanwhile, in many other places of the world:
- Women can be executed for having lesbian sex
- Women can be arrested for dressing the wrong way in public
- Girls can’t go to school, or risk being raped if they do
- Girls fall behind in school because they don’t have practical ways to deal with their monthly periods
- Girls are sold into sexual slavery
- Girls are married off while they’re still children
- Women cannot leave the house without their husband’s permission
- Women risk violence, divorce, or social exclusion if they try to vote
- Women can be gang-raped to pay for a man’s crime

Basically, she hates any non-feminist culture that does not place women's needs and interests before all else. She's also not above hyperbole, many of her points are straightup feminist dogma.

Her problem with feminism is not because of it's vitriolic misandry and the damage it does to men, boys and society, it's because it makes herself feel uncomfortable and that's about it.

Title	The Problem with American Feminism
Author	EricAllonde
Upvotes	36
Comments	10
Date	August 15, 2019 7:13 AM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/cqmj76/the_problem_with_american_feminism/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/the-problem-with-american-feminism.1204822 https://theredarchive.com/post/1204822

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