The Student Room Group

This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Feminism!

Scroll to see replies

Reply 340
Ditto what previous people have said.

Feminism is biased. It suggests that women should be given some kind of special attention.
The efforts should be on promoting gender equality. No one race, gender, religion, or other 'category' should be given any kind of special treatment or attention. Society should reward individuals based on their personality and merits.

One of the worst examples is the forcing of a 50/50 male:female representation in parliament. While desirable and a justified idea, it shouldn't be forced this way. The efforts again should be towards ensuring that merit and talent is rewarded above everything else, not forcefully promoting one sex, doing this only means that potentially desirable candidates in the opposite sex have their chances destroyed. If, in a purely merit-based system, 60 or even 70% is male, why is there a need to change this? Its just the way it turned out.
Original post by a_stitch_in_time
#false dichotomy.

I am not trying to impress you. I am stating facts.

Money, looks, intelligence, social interaction and happiness aren't mutually exclusive from one another. It is possible to have all. I do have all. I am sorry to know that you are lacking on at least two of these fronts (money, intelligence. the rest I just don't care about to know). The only thing I didn't appreciate was the ignorance. Perhaps I was too harsh. I assumed that people on this thread wouldn't have the gall to spew forth misinformed ideas with such bravado. But I guess this bravado helps you face life.


As for a specific example of a manifestation of lack of social interaction and happiness, you seem to have done yourself perfect justice on this front:


























ps. I don't hate you. I hope someone will like you not for your steroids, money or even looks. But that will take some work on your end. The choice is yours.

If you need help with anything feel free to pm.


Haha you keep replying to me, do you fancy me? I take steroids because I want to, no other reason.

Bottom line is I said I'm a feminist. What are you trying to prove?
threadfail.jpg
Original post by ThePhilosoraptor
threadfail.jpg


Maybe we should make a new one...
I agree there has been some ridiculous discussion on here...
Original post by When you see it...
Maybe we should make a new one...
I agree there has been some ridiculous discussion on here...

Maybe you should see if you can delete the off-topic comments, last month u did say you were going to update the 'subject header'(?). I suggested a poll.

Anyway as I don't wanna start a new thread for this:
Tom Martin (sex discrimination lawsuitor against LSE; www.sexismbusters.org) is having a debate asking "Is feminism sexist?" Opposing the notion, will be NUS Women's Officer Estelle Hart. I have asked for 'ringside seats' & await if I am allowed there. Its at UCL, where Parenchyma "Talk down to me more, it really helps your point," may wish to go (for Meds.); as that's what Estelle Hart will be doing.
I don't think, unlike Norway, Gender studies is going to be discontinued.

Judging by some people here feminism means different things: egalitarian, representing women only, man hating, or female supremacy. As long as 1-10+% say it is not egalitarian, then they will make it biased, hence sexist. The Q should be how sexist is feminism? If it was that then there'd be no debate; its like feminism is trying to say it is equal on both sides when that is false.
~~~

I do not trust NUS (especially as I'll be a member in 6 months), when the last women's officer Olivia Bailey arguing against "Equality" (against NUS's vision). Particularly insulted by her weak reasons for not having a Men's Officer (P7) & then trying to recruit. Her plea when leaving "help those feminist groups flourish. Resource them, don’t question them."

I'm sure if women students were successfully committing suicide at the rate men were, they'd publish that. More women try to commit then men; wonder if that is for attention & help which they will get with their support network?

At NUS:
Britain has worst rape conviction rate
- refers to a Guradian article, from 2009; so they have not updated their information; nor cited about this "study of 33 countries." As both articles are ~3 years old, they are not saying its closer to 60% as reported in 2010. This useful "campaigning tool" is part of the Lace Curtain that excludes men's issues debates from mainstream media; by Harriet Harman who does not care about genuine rape victims.

Because I am a girl.
Apart from a link that fails: "only 17% of teenage girls in Sub-Saharan Africa go to school," fails to mention how many teenage boys go to school. Unicef's 2005 for secondary education shows on P9 below "In Latin America/Caribbean gender gap favours girls," that say for Chad, there is a 20% difference between attendances (36%:56%), but I'd rather help struggling Niger with 10.6%:16.9%. Jobs may not need secondary education, like UK a century ago; are there so many graduates needed now? Overall true, but I don't believe 17%. Childinfo.org, see global maps.

1 in 7 women students is a victim of sexual assault or violence.
Link assumes a lot of things not being reported. Hidden Marks pdf, I can't understand how they get that & how many 100,000s of women discussed.
ManKind Initiative using Home Office stats estimates for 16-59 years (yes, NUS students are mainly aged 18-26 & ~7.5 million) One in six men (aged 16+) and one in four women will suffer domestic abuse in their lifetime. This equates to c2.8 million men and c4.8 million women. So if they bothered to report/find out then I won't guess it is 1 in 14.

Maybe the men's officer could open this Lace Curtain?

If I can do a job like above, then as long as people are open-minded looking at Govt. or verified facts/figures then Tom should do well. It is how well he can counter attack against non-believers even when it is facing them or who will endure excessive cognitive dissonance.
If you managed this far, then u r looking for the truth.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Newky
Ditto what previous people have said.

Feminism is biased. It suggests that women should be given some kind of special attention.
The efforts should be on promoting gender equality. No one race, gender, religion, or other 'category' should be given any kind of special treatment or attention. Society should reward individuals based on their personality and merits.

One of the worst examples is the forcing of a 50/50 male:female representation in parliament. While desirable and a justified idea, it shouldn't be forced this way. The efforts again should be towards ensuring that merit and talent is rewarded above everything else, not forcefully promoting one sex, doing this only means that potentially desirable candidates in the opposite sex have their chances destroyed. If, in a purely merit-based system, 60 or even 70% is male, why is there a need to change this? Its just the way it turned out.


I don't really see why you think society rewarding individuals based on their personality and merits is at all at odds with feminism. If you define "special treatment" as positive discrimination then yes, I'm with you- it's a ****ty and unfair solution. But that doesn't mean the problems aren't there to begin with, just that we need to find a different way of dealing with them. And the only way for everyone to be equal, is to give some attention to the problems of those who suffer discrimination, be it ethnic minorities, women or homosexuals.
Original post by When you see it...
I have created a group called 'Feminism!'. It can be found here:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/group.php?groupid=1758
This thread is just for debate about both the abstract, ideological aspects of feminism as well as how the practical implementation of these ideas should happen, both on a local and worldwide scale.
I will probably edit this post later, please post suggestions as to what you want me to write here. Some inspirational quotes? ...or some shocking statistics?7

Mod's note - Just to pre-empt the troll brigade, sensible discussion and disagreement is okay, trolling and spam is not. Cheers :smile:


That's a strange way of making a sandwich. :colone:
Reply 347
10th commandment.

/thread.
Reply 348
Feminism eh. You're not complaining when you get the rights over the kids are you? You're not complaining when you get a chunk out of the mans wallet in the divorce settlement are you? Therefore is it really feminism when it doesn't work both ways? No, that's called sexism!
Original post by rad_student


Feminism frees women of all their responsibilities and obligations to men and society (producing and raising children, a loving family home).


I know this was posted ages ago but I couldn't help myself.

Obligations to men? Why should women have any obligations to men? Men shouldn't have any to women, so it definately shouldn't just be a one-way street.
Original post by Alex-92
10th commandment.

/thread.


... You mean this one? "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."

What does that have to do with feminism...
Reply 351
Original post by ChocoCoatedLemons
... You mean this one? "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."

What does that have to do with feminism...


Thread has been merged. Was "Is religion (in particular the Judaeo-Christian) sexist? Discuss"

Now my comment looks out of place, and I cannot be arse'd to tenuously link it to this new argument/discussion/thread.
I think what you need to take into account when it comes to "feminism" and equality of the sexes is the difficult dichotomy of being a woman in a post-modern society.

On the one hand, society (parents, teachers, etc...) tells women that they have to focus on their careers and be independent. You have to be self-sufficient. You can't rely on a man to take care of you anymore because men are flaky bla bla bla...

On the other hand, women have to fight their biological imperative to have children. They have a maternal instinct that seems to kick in by their late 20's/early 30's.

Men don't have this issue. They can focus on their career their entire life and settle down in their 40's if they want to. Men can physiologically reproduce into their 70's. It's not uncommon for a man to date or marry a woman several years or even DECADES his junior. The reverse is far less common.

For women, the clock is always ticking and they know it. They need to find a partner as soon as possible which is why they often "settle for less". Men can afford to be much more picky.

So give 'em a break. We still earn higher salaries even to this day. I don't know what you guys are complaining about.

Personally I'm glad I have a penis :wink:
Original post by Alex-92
Thread has been merged. Was "Is religion (in particular the Judaeo-Christian) sexist? Discuss"

Now my comment looks out of place, and I cannot be arse'd to tenuously link it to this new argument/discussion/thread.


Ah okay, understood XD I wouldn't either.
Originally Posted by rad_student
Quote:-Feminism frees women of all their responsibilities and obligations to men and society (producing and raising children, a loving family home).

Original post by ChocoCoatedLemons
I know this was posted ages ago but I couldn't help myself.

Obligations to men? Why should women have any obligations to men? Men shouldn't have any to women, so it definately shouldn't just be a one-way street.


You have to take the context from post #127 where quote came from, with #125 as they go together & are to do with legality & women's nature & their place in society. Women don't have any obligations to men (society obligation is to reproduce) yet unfairly expect it from others. Men have obligations to women enforced legally (active discrimination); if women do have obligations WHAT IS IT?
The reply liked by the question asker, analyses it well. Saved that html. Still if you have one, do share what you mean about this "one-way" Choco.

It is this over privilege that annoys - with +ve action, job quotas rather than merit or equal pay with lower standards in police/army/fire-fighter; with 3 times more reproductive rights than men 'expect the man to pay for any child born; with the Govt. replacing the husband/father's role with handouts (majority paid in by men, main benefactors are women) leading to 20% of single parent household & a statistically high prisoner count comes from single parent households.
Exposing The Male Privilege Checklist - With privilege comes responsibility.

Some are working towards "Men shouldn't have any to women" but, it is being legally enforced & men are dropping out of long term relationships as sexual liberation further reduces women's worth. For women, well if they don't need men so much & the ones available are less masculine, or at least equal/better than them, then their desire goes down. I believe even Feminists weren't expecting that, they just thought they'd be controlling the oppressive men; instead men drop out & women are left working!
So please help yourself, I look forward to women being the main taxpayers (r they not already the main spenders?) & men not sticking with a soul-destroying or dangerous job as they need the money for their protector/provider roles.

PS
After reading post #125 & knowing last month the Irish Supreme Court ruled that constitutional law allows teenage boys but not teenage girls to be prosecuted for having underage sex. any ideas on
"Q3 Anyone with ONE example (not hearsay) where men are LEGALLY entitled to harm women; LEGALLY entitled to force women into servitude; LEGALLY allowed any advantage over denied women?"?
(edited 12 years ago)
The only part of feminism I have ever agreed with is a woman's right to choose. I've never seen it as a movement which promotes equality for the sexes - just the name, "feminism", suggests a supremacy for the female gender - and the majority of people I've met who call themselves feminists seem to actively hate men.

These days, as I've said before, it seems that a small minority (I hope) of feminists, although this small minority seems to be the ones who shout the loudest and get themselves heard the most, don't want women to have the right to choose - they want women to live their lives, the way these feminists think women should live their lives - essentially, trying to force us to live their way, under the guise of stopping us from being forced to live another way.

My view of feminism may be jaded in light of the fact that I've been called a disgrace to feminism and a disappointment to women because in my wedding vows I will choose to say "to honour and obey", and because I like the idea, if we were making enough money or won the lottery, of being a stay at home housewife - as long as my husband said in his vows, "to honour and protect", which I believe is the male equivalent of that vow although I'm probably mistaken, and he was bringing home money. If he was bringing home enough money to live on comfortably, I'd be very happy to look after the kids, do the housework and make sure he's got dinner waiting on the table for him. That isn't me being a disgrace to feminism - that's me doing what the earlier feminists fought for, the right to CHOOSE.
Reply 356
I don't even know what feminism means now that women have the franchise?
Original post by Mysteries
I

On the one hand, society (parents, teachers, etc...) tells women that they have to focus on their careers and be independent. You have to be self-sufficient. You can't rely on a man to take care of you anymore because men are flaky bla bla bla...



Highly doubtful! Society tells women they should be thin and beautiful, that they should use their looks to get ahead, that they have a natural journey to family and motherhood. This imperative to be a 'traditional' woman isn't as strong as it used to be, but it's still there. All the major religions advocated traditional motherhood and family life as the ultimate rightful destination for a woman. Women remain judged on their looks more than men in job interviews and often are passed over for promotion on the basis that they may have children.

Your assertion itself that women have a biological drive to settle down and have a family is itself a socio-cultural construction about what being a woman means and itself contradicts your above point. In saying that it is natural to be a mother, that women should have children, stay at home with those children and be nurturing.. that in itself is a social imperative.
Reply 358
Original post by Mysteries
I think what you need to take into account when it comes to "feminism" and equality of the sexes is the difficult dichotomy of being a woman in a post-modern society.

On the one hand, society (parents, teachers, etc...) tells women that they have to focus on their careers and be independent. You have to be self-sufficient. You can't rely on a man to take care of you anymore because men are flaky bla bla bla...

On the other hand, women have to fight their biological imperative to have children. They have a maternal instinct that seems to kick in by their late 20's/early 30's.


It seems to me that feminism was a technology which promoted women to integrate more into the Capitalist economy rather than an economy of reproduction which was womens first economic role.

So 'equality' really means to masculinise and go and compete in the world of work and career etc and become kind of pseudo-men.

Feminism deployed guilt to make women who wanted to just have kids feel bad about this 'lack of ambition', and so go against their instincts which are to have kids.
Original post by snozzle
I don't even know what feminism means now that women have the franchise?


The franchise is just a legal/judicial type of equality. Equality for women means so much more than that - it is about a change in attitudes. Feminism has struggled in the past because (and this remains its main criticism) it seems to tell women what to do as much as patriarchy does. Where patriarchy says stay at home, (much of 1970s radical feminism) said go out to work: post-structuralist feminism is much more about individual choice. Modern feminism supports the right of every woman to do what she so chooses in life, constrained as little as possible in that quest by external forces. The right to vote is just one step towards that freedom of choice.

Latest