I don't call myself a feminist...and I get hate for it.
Okay, so I absolutely believe that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities. But I never have and never will call myself a feminist. I don't think there's anything remotely dirty about the word. My reticence about the term 'feminist' is purely because I believe that there should not be a specific term for agreeing with the claim that men and women should have equal rights...to me that's just being a decent human being. But I feel that I get hate from some of my fellow female friends and students because of this. Why do CERTAIN outspoken feminists (particularly those of the 18-25 age bracket) have such hatred and venom for women like themselves who absolutely agree that women should have the same rights as men, but simply do not want to define themselves by the term 'feminist'. Genuine question here. And no, I'm not making generalisations...I've not said that all feminists have hatred for those who choose not to call themselves feminists.
I think almost everyone is a feminist in the "old" sense of the term - ie everyone believes in equal rights and everything. However, I don't call myself a feminist because I don't agree with what feminism has become today - a bunch of misandrysts nit-picking at pretty irrelevant issues. Like, girls in Africa are getting their genitals chopped off, women in Saudi Arabia are whipped for driving, meanwhile modern "feminism" celebrates getting page 3 banned and making scientists cry.
Plus, I think there are a lot of disadvantages that men have that need to be fixed, not just women's. So I prefer to call myself an egalitarian.
Plus, I think there are a lot of disadvantages that men have that need to be fixed, not just women's. So I prefer to call myself an egalitarian.
First world problems
Original post by Steeplechasing
Okay, so I absolutely believe that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities,.
Then you're a feminist.
There's a reason there is a term, because women have been considered second class citizens throughout history for prolonged periods of time, and sadly sexist attitudes still exist within the world today. I personally find it more disrespectful that people have this really blase approach to such weighted terms, like 'nah I'm not a feminist because of x reason'.
People have died trying to make the world equal, and there's nothing wrong with still agreeing with the liberal agenda haha. Starting 'I'm not a feminist... even though I absolutely believe in the purpose of feminisn' makes you sound like a tool. <
i think of myself as an equalist. all people should have the same equal rights as everyone else. however i don't state my case a lot because i believe if you really do believe in equality of all it shouldn't need to be said.
Original post by Steeplechasing
Okay, so I absolutely believe that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities. But I never have and never will call myself a feminist. I don't think there's anything remotely dirty about the word. My reticence about the term 'feminist' is purely because I believe that there should not be a specific term for agreeing with the claim that men and women should have equal rights...to me that's just being a decent human being. But I feel that I get hate from some of my fellow female friends and students because of this. Why do CERTAIN outspoken feminists (particularly those of the 18-25 age bracket) have such hatred and venom for women like themselves who absolutely agree that women should have the same rights as men, but simply do not want to define themselves by the term 'feminist'. Genuine question here. And no, I'm not making generalisations...I've not said that all feminists have hatred for those who choose not to call themselves feminists.
You're absolutely right.
Original post by MagicJigsaw
I think almost everyone is a feminist in the "old" sense of the term - ie everyone believes in equal rights and everything. However, I don't call myself a feminist because I don't agree with what feminism has become today - a bunch of misandrysts nit-picking at pretty irrelevant issues. Like, girls in Africa are getting their genitals chopped off, women in Saudi Arabia are whipped for driving, meanwhile modern "feminism" celebrates getting page 3 banned and making scientists cry.
Plus, I think there are a lot of disadvantages that men have that need to be fixed, not just women's. So I prefer to call myself an egalitarian.
Plus, I think there are a lot of disadvantages that men have that need to be fixed, not just women's. So I prefer to call myself an egalitarian.
THIS x100
Original post by MichaelB6
Then you're a feminist.
No he isn't. he just said in the original post that he isn't
They attack you because today they are not for equality of the sexes they are for superiority of the female sex. So in order to keep the upper hand they must behave like bullies, like a gang, social political terrorists attacking anyone male or female that does not follow their orders.
Lool wtf, what do they say when you refuse to call yourself a feminist 
?
?
I am a feminist, because I support the core tenets of feminism, but I call myself an egalitarian or humanitarian, because I think constantly looking at things from a gender perspective isn't going to actually help in breaking down gender barriers, plus there are plenty of groups that are discriminated against (let's go on and on about whether the wage gap exists whilst ignoring that the most discriminated against group in the workplace is the disabled, shall we?) and I think that "egalitarian" better conveys that I care about all discrimination. I honestly just think that the only way to get to a place where everyone is treated the same is to not constantly define ourselves by our genders/differences.
I dont think the term feminism is relevant for the first world. As women are no longer seen as second class citizens. I prefer not to be called a feminist because it is associated with the mess that is 'third wave feminism'
I propose that we come up with a movement with a more gender neutral name and is based on equality for all genders and not just focusing on women.
I suppose some people call it egalitarianism.
I propose that we come up with a movement with a more gender neutral name and is based on equality for all genders and not just focusing on women.
I suppose some people call it egalitarianism.
Original post by Sabuntu
I dont think the term feminism is relevant for the first world. As women are no longer seen as second class citizens. I prefer not to be called a feminist because it is associated with the mess that is 'third wave feminism'
I propose that we come up with a movement with a more gender neutral name and is based on equality for all genders and not just focusing on women.
I suppose some people call it egalitarianism.
I propose that we come up with a movement with a more gender neutral name and is based on equality for all genders and not just focusing on women.
I suppose some people call it egalitarianism.
good post
Original post by Mancini
They attack you because today they are not for equality of the sexes they are for superiority of the female sex. So in order to keep the upper hand they must behave like bullies, like a gang, social political terrorists attacking anyone male or female that does not follow their orders.
Common misconception, if you look at sites such as tumblr there's a whole array of almost... "branches" of feminism. The female-superiority ones do appear to be very much the most vocal and well publicised ones, though, and then can be backed up by more "normal" feminists supporting them in certain dumb agendas like gender quotas and such.
Original post by MichaelB6
Then you're a feminist.
Feminism is more of a movement or ideology really, claiming that you're not a feminist but believe in equal rights is more like saying you're not a Christian but believe that God exists. It's a perfectly valid position.
I personally wouldn't identify as a feminist because of what a lot of feminists that aren't the female superiority idiots believe in things based of incredibly dodgy statistics from poor studies (1 in 4 rape statistic which has been debunked multiple times, wage gap, more recently that study about sexism in gaming (even though in the study the voices they used were pre-recorded and most of the people they played against didn't even speak, plus they played halo 3, which came out ages ago etc), I read one about sexism in STEM hiring where the study didn't even get actual employers to do the hiring, it was a mock-up.) and what I call "equality for equal's sake" where they complain about stuff like women not making up a certain percentage of X job, and putting it down to sexism when it could just be that maybe women aren't going for that job? Then they go on about "we need more women in x industry".. like do we? why? what for? Gender quotas? What's the point? There isn't one other than making things equal for the sake of having equal numbers.
If I presented these beliefs to the average internet feminist and still claimed to be a feminist they'd most likely do the whole "THEY'RE NOT TRUE SCOTSMEN" routine they often shame the "feminazi" branch with, claiming I'm not "a true feminist", I'd get anon hate in my tumblr asks, (cuz lets face it, that's where most of this kinda stuff is) overall labelling myself would be pretty pointless.
The point is, while I believe in the basic ideal it holds up (equal rights for the sexes), as I do not identify with the rest of the movement almost in its entirety, I don't choose to label myself a feminist, as basically I ain't "a true" one according to other people.
Original post by MichaelB6
Then you're a feminist.
There's a reason there is a term, because women have been considered second class citizens throughout history for prolonged periods of time, and sadly sexist attitudes still exist within the world today. I personally find it more disrespectful that people have this really blase approach to such weighted terms, like 'nah I'm not a feminist because of x reason'.
There's a reason there is a term, because women have been considered second class citizens throughout history for prolonged periods of time, and sadly sexist attitudes still exist within the world today. I personally find it more disrespectful that people have this really blase approach to such weighted terms, like 'nah I'm not a feminist because of x reason'.
No, I'm not a feminist. I do not call myself one. I have tons of respect for the movement and credit it with me being allowed to have the lifestyle I have today, but I simply prefer to call myself a humanist. This is exactly the problem I'm talking about. People insisting that because I believe in everyone being equal and having basic human rights, that I automatically fall into a category, and that if I deny that name there's an issue somewhere. I understand the history of my gender and the way we have been treated. I hate that this was so. But I am not a feminist.
This is very common. In my uni one of our lecturers asked how many people would call themselves feminists and very few people put put their hands up (lets take into account that this is on Modern Languages which is 2/3 girls), and then asked how many people believe in gender equality and everyone in the room put their hands up. As a result everyone who did not identify as a feminist was subjected to a barrage of verbal abuse (especially the girls) which I thought was very rude. I personally can't name anyone who doesn't believe in gender equality, but in my experience people who do identify as feminists happen to complain about the most trivial things. The usual feminism I've come across goes something like this.
-Encourages people to be overly sensitive to the point where you can't even tell a joke or an anecdote without being labeled as some kind of sexist or misogynist.
-Arguments full of hypocrisy for example if you say 'Not all men are like that' you are criticized but if they say 'Not all Feminists are like that' then that's apparently justified.
-Too much focus on 1st world problems and blowing them way out of proportion like banning the word bossy or complaining about the fact that human has MAN in it (as if these were issues that needed to be solved) rather than talking about the horrible treatment of women in African and Middle Eastern countries.
-The huge number of logical fallacies in their arguments sometimes to the point that 'if you're not a feminist you're an (internalized) misogynist' or the usual 'NAFALT' (Not all feminists are like that)
-Casual sexism towards men and anti male double standards, usually to the point that if something terrible happens to a man then he deserved it but if it happens to a woman then it's awful.
-Bigotry to anyone who does not want to identify as a feminist up to the point that anyone with a slightly different opinion is shouted down and insulted. Fascist style policing on internet sites (particularly FB pages) where anyone who posts something they don't like is blocked.
-Trivialization of some words, now reaching the point where even looking at a girl could be counted as 'stare raping' and the words objectification and misogyny could mean absolutely anything now.
Anyway, in a 1st world country why do we even need a label to say we believe in gender equality? I don't really like labels of any kind especially if there is an -ism involved. To be honest if this is what Western feminism has become then I'm not surprised so many people do not want to be associated with it anymore.
-Encourages people to be overly sensitive to the point where you can't even tell a joke or an anecdote without being labeled as some kind of sexist or misogynist.
-Arguments full of hypocrisy for example if you say 'Not all men are like that' you are criticized but if they say 'Not all Feminists are like that' then that's apparently justified.
-Too much focus on 1st world problems and blowing them way out of proportion like banning the word bossy or complaining about the fact that human has MAN in it (as if these were issues that needed to be solved) rather than talking about the horrible treatment of women in African and Middle Eastern countries.
-The huge number of logical fallacies in their arguments sometimes to the point that 'if you're not a feminist you're an (internalized) misogynist' or the usual 'NAFALT' (Not all feminists are like that)
-Casual sexism towards men and anti male double standards, usually to the point that if something terrible happens to a man then he deserved it but if it happens to a woman then it's awful.
-Bigotry to anyone who does not want to identify as a feminist up to the point that anyone with a slightly different opinion is shouted down and insulted. Fascist style policing on internet sites (particularly FB pages) where anyone who posts something they don't like is blocked.
-Trivialization of some words, now reaching the point where even looking at a girl could be counted as 'stare raping' and the words objectification and misogyny could mean absolutely anything now.
Anyway, in a 1st world country why do we even need a label to say we believe in gender equality? I don't really like labels of any kind especially if there is an -ism involved. To be honest if this is what Western feminism has become then I'm not surprised so many people do not want to be associated with it anymore.
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