Why aren't you a feminist?

I would like to know why people WOULDN'T consider themselves to be a feminist, boys and girls! If you could leave a few reasons why you feel that way in the comments that would be great and so interesting! Thank you! x

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Reply 1

Tootles

Original post by gsimona

Because I don't believe in sexism; even the word "feminist" is sexist.

Reply 2

Glib

Because it is a waste of time.

Reply 3

gsimona

Thank you so much for your quick response! Could I bounce that back and ask if you believe that men and women should have equal rights?

Reply 4

Nirvana1989-1994

Plot twist.....

I am. :h:

Reply 5

CptConnor

Well there is a fine line between being a Feminist and what a lot of people call a Feminazi.

Feminist, I've got no problems with that along with most of the public. Fighting for equal rights with everything from treatment to payrolls e.t.c

But I guess the other, more extreme, branches of Feminism where these 'Feminazis' go out of their way to not only fight for equal right but shame males for being a disgrace, for being filthy scum - you've probably seen the videos or read the articles.

So I guess people could be afraid of being branded as this type of Feminist rather than the more peaceful, reasonable Feminist.Thats my opinion on it either way, feel free to criticize it. :P

Reply 6

UWS

Ain't Nobody Got Time for That

Well, me anyway...

Reply 7

Asolare

Because I advocate for egalitarianism which is now so far away from feminism (and has pretty much rarely been what feminists seek) it's unreal.

Men and women both face problems on this planet, and trying to overcome the issues incurred collectively by everyone by fighting a cause that aims only to eliminate the issues incurred by one sex is stupid and moronic.

That's why I'm not a feminist/MRA either.

Reply 8

Ladbants

Can't be bothered to be one

Reply 9

troubadour.

Because I quite like quasi-traditional gender roles. :beard:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 10

math42

I am a feminist by dictionary definition.
However, much to the chagrin of many feminists, I do not identify as one, because I understand that words are loaded, versatile, and ever-changing, and that to identify as a feminist nowadays is to imply a range of unsubstantiated beliefs, founded, if at all, on the most spurious and facile statistics one can imagine. In addition, you cannot help but notice the perversity of their methodology; racy shirts and air conditioning seem to trump genuine, demonstrable oppression in less developed countries; you have the privileged few screaming about how they, by virtue of their genitalia, are truly part of the oppressed many, while enjoying countless rights and luxuries thousands of women cannot have, in many cases due to their gender.

Reply 11

IRoranth

Original post by Inexorably

I think you should look up the real definition of feminism.

Reply 12

Asolare

Original post by IRoranth

I think you should look up the real definition of feminism.

Google:

define: feminism

the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.

Moan all you want, this has and has always been the aim of feminist movements. A complete disregard for any male issues, the only time they ever pretend to care about males is when they say "oh but doing X will help men as well as women, because men will learn their lesson!".

It's amusing when feminists try to pretend they actually care about resolving issues encountered by men, keep trying honey.

Reply 13

rainbow.panda

I'm a feminist in the sense that I advocate equal rights with a focus on women as an disadvantaged group. Which is the real definition but sadly it's taken on a new meaning these days.

Reply 14

Nirvana1989-1994

Also, people have always been b****ing about every single wave. First wave "Urgh Feminism...man haters", Second wave "Feminsim has gone too far, meh", and Third wave/fourth-god knows which "It's just about women being better than men now/it's egalitarianism for me", have to be careful that I don't roll my eyes too far.

Reply 15

IRoranth

Original post by Inexorably

Yeah, on the grounds of equality of the sexes.
You're only saying it is a movement solely for women because it sounds like it.
The word feminism is used because it originated from mainly women's suffrage in the past.
The term is used for both the suffrage of males and females in contemporary thought- as a feminist, I fight for men's rights too.

Do you really think I think it's OK for men to be insulted because they like 'girly' things, or because they're not 'strong' enough, or because they aren't taken into account during divorce cases?

Stop generalising.

Reply 16

math42

Original post by Inexorably

My favourite feminist argument is that it's not about solely women's rights, it's about advocating femininity. The saner ones all seem to have this argument; yes, men have lots of problems, they say, but it's because we don't like femininity. Therefore we have to focus on the feminine side, hence feminism > egalitarianism. It is utterly absurd. Yes, there are negative stereotypes of women as weak and irrational, for instance. But there are negative stereotypes of men as violent and insensitive. This notion that we think masculinity is some great goal is bizarre; if anything, it is the feminists who most readily embrace this notion, suggesting that traditional gender roles are some toxic evil; that all women should strive for lucrative, high-flying careers, that they should all try to succeed and climb the ladder, so to speak, the way men always have.

Don't get me wrong, any individual can do whatever they want. But I do honestly think that this shunning of traditional femininity, and the traditional relationship between men and women may have an adverse affect on people. I'm not saying that previous periods in time were better, far from it, I am just saying, we seem to be trying to distance ourselves so much from the negative parts of them that we forget that humans are animals, and in the majority of cases, our sex will influence what roles we want to undertake just as it does for every other animal. I'm no social conservative, let me stress that: as I said, on the individual level, do whatever you want, and there should be zero pressure to fulfil a certain role just because of your gender. But the pendulum seems to have swung from one extreme to the other, rather than settling to true equilibrium, rather than us having a genuine "live and let live" attitude. Now it seems there is just pressure on everyone to get a good career (at least in the West, and in particular the middle classes) and to succeed, regardless of gender. I would imagine, and this is not empirical, purely based on what I have heard anecdotally, and intuition, that on balance more men really want to get a high-flying job and climb the ranks of a corporation. In fear of being pounced on as a sexist, let me yet again note that of course there will be women who fit this role. But the point is that I feel like many women will feel like they need to fit this role when it is not what they truly want. Of course, this is the case for some men too (indeed, I would count myself among them; I have never had the traditional masculine drive, or at least it is expressed in a rather different way to the norm). What I'm ultimately getting at, I suppose, is that we need to lay off people with all the expectations..

Turned into a much bigger discussion than expected; sorry lol, my original comment was only tangential to your post anyway..

edit: Well, explicitly speaking, to be fair, I have heard many feminists say that it's okay for a woman to not be ambitious, or to just marry and have a family and be a homemaker. Explicitly. But their rage over the "wage gap" and the "glass ceiling" seems to tell a different story.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 17

Anonymous #1

I'm a female and apart from issues such as the pay gap etc between women and men, most of the issues that feminists want to tackle don't really irritate me enough to care tbh.

Reply 18

fandom-queen

Honestly, I am a feminist, if it means EQUALITY of both sexes.

But I really do believe, that despite her good intentions, Emma Watson's heforshe campaign is wrong. Because the message creates a divide all over again. It again creates He and She, rather than US. TOGETHER. A COLLECTIVE.

I'm a girl, and I want equal pay, I want female genocide to end, I want education for my gender.

But I recognise that men can be abused, men can be raped. If HeforShe exists, what about those "he's" who need help? Where will they turn to for help?

Real feminism is the work of suffragettes. Real feminism is Miss Bus and Miss Beale. Real feminism is Malala Yousafzai, who's working for CHILDREN'S education, regardless of gender. Not Kim Kardashian, or Rihanna, who think #freethenipple is true feminism. Because a girl in africa or asia, cares more about her geography lesson taking place, than her nipple being freed.

Ugh, disgusting.

Reply 19

Boredomstrikes

I'm not a feminist because as they try to say that they fight for equality for men and women and claim that they care about male issues when they really really don't. In the past few years simply calling a girl a slut has resulted in whoever hurling the insult in receiving huge amounts of backlash thanks to campaigning against "slut shaming", Yet no one cares about the fact that males are significantly more likely to commit suicide and that male domestic abuse victims and rape victims get absolutely no care whatsoever but there are hundreds of charities and helplines for women and their cases get taken seriously. Slut shaming has more attention and more sympathy than male domestic abuse and rape victims. Don't even get me started on the nonsense that is the so called Gender pay gap which is the most easily manipulated piece of data I have ever seen. If women earn so much less than men then why are men employed? You constantly hear things like "Women don't pursue careers in stem fields because it is seen as a boys field" but they completely ignore female dominance in fields such as Biology, Veterinary science and of course nursing and why is it always male dominance in those fields? Why don't I ever see feminists complaining about male dominance in high risk, manual labour type jobs like coal mining, and building?. Do I also need to bring up the fact that a female paedophiles receives significantly less backlash than a male one and fewer years in jail. Also I hate the fact that feminists now think that they're the ones who make decisions for all women and if you're a woman who doesn't agree with everything they say then you're obviously a woman brainwashed by the patriarchy apparently. Modern day feminism is laughable to me. I don't hate feminism as a whole there are some bloody great feminists such as Malala but modern feminism in the west I think has just become a joke. It terrifies me that I or someone I know could be abused by a female but feminists will continue to complain about freeing the nipple and banning the word slut while sipping their cup of "male tears". That quite frankly makes me sick.