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Hmm. Different expectations for women and men? How odd.
Funny how women are expected to differentiate themselves from the the societal norm (men) to get recognition.
Almost always when discussing Feminism there is a person that decides to add to the discussion and proceed to *argle-bargle* on about things when in fact they are proving most adroitly that they cannot find their ass with both hands.
Education is one of the goals of this blog and in that light I present an incomplete, yet succinct list of some of the disadvantages women face both historically and today.
Limited range of motion = weakness, so men invent foot-binding and corsets and neck elongators
Lack of education = weakness, so men create a systemic restriction of education, where women are prohibited from entering (the concept of universal, collegiate education is a 20th c western phenomena, and still hasn’t reached parity in other areas of the world)
Lack of capital = weakness, so men have historically prohibited women from owning property, voting or exercising political, economic or social capital
Lack of agency = weakness, so men devise a system that packages “woman” as something to be owned; fathers own their daughters until they’re “given away” to their husbands, whereupon they’re expected to produce sons on whom the mother is expected to rely in old age
“Femininity”, at its very root, is the male fetishization of an idealized weakness. That’s Feminism 101.
If you missed out of what Rape Culture is, I suggest you go back and look at yesterdays post. Today, lets enumerate a small sample of what is going on in our society. Specifically, lets look at some of posts from the tumblr “I Once Had A Guy Tell Me...” Liberal White Dudes I thought I would provide some evidence that your experiences are NOT some sort of platonic baseline that everyone shares. It is a touch different for others: (be aware these posts contain triggering material about rape, violence against women and sexual abuse)
[TW: Rape]
I once had a guy (friend, artistic collaborator) tell me, after “snuggling during a movie” turned into him holding me down with his forearm across the back of my neck while I nearly suffocated and he raped me so roughly it dislocated my lower back, that *I* had actually raped *him* — since I had known he was too drunk to stop himself from ‘fucking’ me. He considered himself a progressive and knew I was only interested in women; also, I had done nothing except lean my head against his shoulder.
(submitted by paleotrees)
[TW: Sexual Abuse]
I once had a guy tell me not to tell my mom he was trying to see me naked. Then my counselor (male) told me what my stepdad did was just human nature and I should forgive him.
(submitted by sarahlikescatsandcigarettes)
I once had a guy grab my stomach at a party, shake it in front of everyone in the room, then loudly chastise me for not eating healthy & working out so I could “be more attractive”.
(submitted by frostbiiite)
[TW: Rape]
I once overheard two middle aged men at a coffeeshop talk about how it’s teenage girls own faults that they get raped and sexually harrassed because they all post flattering selfies on facebook. “They’re trying to look so sexy, well what do they expect that gets you”
(submitted by anonymous)
[TW Abuse]
A guy once told me that he only hits me when he’s angry, and that I need only not piss to him off, and he will never hit me again. He’s my husband, and he tells me it’s my fault.
(submitted by anonymous)
Mod note* –
It is NOT your fault. Your husband has NO RIGHT to hit you, or hurt you in any way. Please seek help – YOU DO NOT DESERVE THIS.
[TW Rape]
I once had a guy tell me that I should stop complaining about the media coverage of the Steubenville Rape Case because “at least rape gets national attention,” and “violent crimes in which men are victimized are completely ignored.”
(submitted by bibulous)
[TW-rape]
My ex-boyfriend at the time told me, “This is why I can’t drink around you,” after I woke up to him inside of me and begged/fought him to stop. He only stopped to throw up, fall down, and pass out unconcious half way through.
(submitted by anonymous)
The tumblr goes on and… this is shameful commentary on so called Civilized Western Society.
Another neat part of holding a minority viewpoint is that when talking with those still in the matrix, your arguments can be dismissed out of hand as whining or mere supercilious handwaving. This short video paints a slightly different picture and should be part of your 101 level knowledge of what Feminism is about.
Welcome to what is going to become a DWR reference video. It is going to be step 1 or make that step 1a, step 1 being gong over to finallyfeminism101 and reading, for dudes that want to talk about feminism and equality because as of late (read always) dudes seem to have very little clue as to what the situation in society actually is and how others in society have to act to stay safe. I found this video over at Unladylike Musings along with her narrative of what it is like for women in society, today as in right now, as in the present as in…
It’s fine if you don’t get it or understand it the first time, but it is real and it is happening. I too am tired of the silence.
I get these great ideas and I say to myself, “Hey Arbourist, you should write a primer on feminism so you do not have to explain and reexplain 101 material until you turn blue”…then (as usual) someone else has already done it and done it better than I could do. So, many thanks to Thinking Girl for her concise definitions :) –
Feminism is a way of looking at the world, a framework or lens through which other issues can be examined. The basic premise of feminism is that societal structures are based on a false assumption that men are superior to women, and that this state of society is unfair and unfounded and causes gender oppression.
Feminism, like women, is not homogenous. There are many, many offshoots of feminism which hold different theories about the nature of gender inequality, how to achieve gender equality, theories about the relationship between gender inequality and other forms of inequality such as racism, homophobia/heterosexism, classism, theories about the relationships between gender inequality and the environment, etc. Some of these include:
- Radical feminism
- Marxist feminism
- Lesbian feminism
- Black feminism
- Postmodern feminism (including queer theory)
- Post-colonial feminism
- Third World feminism
- Socialist feminism
- Liberal feminism
- Ecofeminism
- Equity feminism
- Gender feminism
- Sex-positive feminism (including anti-pornography theory)
What is Patriarchy?
A mainstay in feminist theory is patriarchy, a relationship of power existing between men and women in which men are in control of socio-economic political power and women are subordinate. Patriarchy informs all other social systems and relationships between men and women, men and other men, and women and other women. Patriarchy is the root of gender oppression. Patriarchy is insidious and runs very deep. It is The MATRIX. It is not always immediately visible to the naked eye. Feminist analysis exposes the ugliness, existence, and persistence of patriarchy, even in seemingly innocuous situations.
What is Oppression?
Oppression is the wide-spread social privileging of some groups over other groups through social structures and institutions. An important thing to understand is that oppression consists of two inter-related phenomena: subjugation and privilege. They live side-by-side. Dismantling oppression means dismantling BOTH of these phenomena.
Something else that is important to understand is that oppression is not discrimination. Oppression is about systems and relations of power, and exists in social structures and institutions. Oppression is wide-spread subjugation of one group while simultaneously privileging another group. This means that those groups who are subjected to oppression are not in a social position to oppress people belonging to the dominant group. There is no such thing as “reverse” sexism, racism, homophobia, (dis)ableism, classism, etc.
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