Question about Feminist?

Question

Amelia Bloomer was an early feminist who championed women's rights. Why do you think women today believe in women's rights but do not call themselves feminists? Is it the feminist agenda that has changed or does the term have different meanings today?

Answer 1

Did you see the south park episode where Chef was trying to get the town to change their flag because it depicted 4 white men hanging a black man? The kids thought Chef's problem was that it was simply violent. They didn't even recognise that the person being hanged was black. They had evolved to not think in terms of color. This is the entire goal of race relations. It's possible that feminism has become so immersed in our society that to acknowledge it is just redundant.

Fewer women today are what I would call "feminist". We are becoming more enlightened I think. I admit that I'm fairly ignorant of the issue but wasn't one of the goals of feminism to equalise men and women so much that we are practically interchangeable, for example in a job? I think that our society is starting to acknowledge that men and women are different and we now celebrate each sex's role a lot more. Men are stronger and women are more emotional. Both are appropriate for different jobs. Men make better soldiers and women make better caregivers. I think that some people have realised that feminism (in certain respects) has been harmful to society. Women's rights have certainly improved and that's fantastic. But so many women in the feminist movement chose their careers at the detriment to their family. A large portion of the youth have been largely unsupervised. Today more women are choosing to raise families instead of pursuing a career.

Answer 2

Women today believe in women's rights but do not call themselves feminists because women have already broken out of their oppression enough to not need such a radical name to represent them. However, back in the early 1900's to mid 1900's, feminists were greatly needed because women were more oppressed during that time. The feminist agenda has changed, but only according to the culture that surrounds the feminist herself. If there was a feminist movement in rural parts of Africa during the mid 1900's, where young girls were being circumsized, then her agenda probably has not changed that much because girls are still being circumsized, and she is probably working her butt off to help stop that form of castration. But as for America, the feminist movement has changed over the years because women are being more outgoing these days, are taking themselves more seriously, are taking themselves to unknown areas that were once dominated by men (jobs, social roles, etc.) and are just taking advantage of more opportunities, so that has made the feminist change since the mid 1900's. But there is still need for them today, because women can always be bettering themselves, but then again, so can men.

Answer 3

The word "feminist" has been given a bad connotation by people who are uncomfortable with the power change that it represents. A feminist has always been and always will be a person, male or female, that believes that men and women are basically equal and deserve the same rights, responsibilities, and opportunities.

Unfortunately, some people, on both sides, have interpreted this as man-hating. I think the worst of it is on the side of people who are against feminism for whatever reason, and have invented terms like "feminazi" or "man-hating feminist". Feminism is threatening to many people because it does require a power shift. In our culture, power has always been in the hands of men, and, to get any for ourselves, women have had to act in a certain way. Feminism calls for that power to be redistributed equally, so of course it is threatening to men, and to the women who have a stake in a sexist culture (see Concerned Women for America or Ann Coulter- these women have built their "power" on bucking up the men). Unenlightened men and women will of course throw any garbage they can at a movement that threatens them. It happens with any civil rights movement- black, gay, women, non-Christian, whatever. Anything that threatens the power at top is Bad, whether it is or not. What the people against these movements often fail to recognize is not that whoever the revolutionaries are have not actually gone too far, but that they are starting to succeed, and that threatens the status quo.

So, to recap, the majority of feminists are not, in fact, man haters. We just want to have the same opportunities and rights as men, which we are still lacking. Yeah, nowadays I can work, but I'm still expected to do all the housework and I still have to put up with ridiculous expectations about my looks and sexuality that men just don't have to deal with. Feminism still has a lot of work to do. We've had a lot of success in the past, but that success hasn't changed how the world views women; it's just driven it deeper.

Answer 4

If you think about it, nearly all major characters in women's rights, were great strong women, but also in a way, were extremely feminist and disliked men in general. Maybe a weak minded stereotype i have but you decide. I admire anyone who stands up for what they believe is right and the most admirable thing about these characters, especially the ones involved in womens rights, is how they dont care what anyone thinks. A feminist means the same thing it did decades ago, but sometimes us men confuse strong independent women who standup for themselves, as women who believe men are inferior. This isnt always the case but you decide. good question

Answer 5

Women have rights??? Just kidding ... bad joke.... People are like snowflakes, everyone is different. Now that we are a society of audio-visual learners, we will never vote in a president in a wheelchair again. Being a feminist is how you want to protray it I believe, mabye the agenda has changed because of women in the same positions as men... who knows... Oh and in my expierence.... being a feminist means your a rageing phyco man-hater....

Answer 6

The label of feminist generally has a negative conotation associated with it. It may not be deserved but it keeps woman from jumping up and calling themselves feminists.

Answer 7

They don't call themselves feminists because the word feminist is associated in people's minds with extreme left-wing opinions. It doesn't bring to mind reasonable and rational.