What are feminists all about?

Question

I know that I'm ignorant about the topic of feminism. That's why I ask this question. Sometimes it seems feminists are about equal rights for women. Other times it seems feminists absolutely hate men.

Answer 1

For me, the meaning of feminism is equal rights of self-determination. I want--and I want my stepdaughter to have--the same rights and opportunities men have in our country. It isn't about clothing, "man-hating" or special protections. It is about valuing our gender rather than the practice of centuries which was to devalue it.

Answer 2

Feminism is mainly about the oppression and subordination of women. Feminism is
1. a theory and a methodology
2. a social movement
3. a worldview.
The feminists consider all of them at the same time. A feminist scholar is usually an activist at the same time.

There is no single feminism but "feminisms". Liberal feminism (which is about the women's equal rights), radical feminism (which is about the domination of women by patriarchy and the men), Marxist feminism (which is about the women's oppression in class societiy), socialist feminism (which is about the women's oppression by capitalism and patriarchy altogether), psychoanalytic feminism (which sees the roots of women's oppression in patriarchal socialization proecesses) and postmodern/poststructural feminism (which stresses the importance of language and the cultural differences in women's oppression) are the foremost schools in feminism. Most of these schools intersect on the oppression and the subordination of women but bring different answers to these problems.

The men can be feminists as well as the women if they support feminism and live (act and think) accordingly. The feminist men's movement stressses that patriarchy harms the men as well as the women.

Answer 3

Feminist movement started out as an equal rights ideology in society, but what most feminists who defend feminism are ignorant about the fact that feminism is no longer what is used to stand for, it's totally dominated by men haters and lesbians and they twist and turn the feminism movement to their agenda, so i pray the sensible women stay away from the feminist movement as it is destroying the society in the west, feminists need enlightenment? please come visit the east, you will see the difference between western women and the eastern women.

Answer 4

There are three forms of feminism to which I'm aware.

Type 1.) feminism as a means to liberation from unfairness
Type 2.) feminism as a means to empower women
Type 3.) feminism as a means to domination of women over men

The word unfortunately can mean any of these things so when you hear it, its difficult to classify what it means.

Someone says "I'm a feminist" I feel like replying, "Well, ok, I am a type 1 feminist - what about you?"

Answer 5

There are a lot of different issues in feminism -- and I don't know that
anyone has defined or confined it into a precise definition -- however,
I offer the following as the definition of a feminist:

A FEMINIST IS:

Do you think men and women have equal talents, abilities and
potentials? Then you are a feminist.

Do you think men and women should receive equal pay for equal work?
Then you are a feminist.

Do you think women who spend their lives making a home for their
families deserve respect for the job they are doing? Then you are a
feminist.

You're a feminist if you favor equal opportunities, equal
responsibilities, and equal treatment for men and women. You are a
feminist if you think promotions in business should be based on
talent and not on gender.

Feminism is not a new phenomenon. It is as old as the human desire
to be treated fairly and judged equally. But it is an idea whose
time is long overdue.

Answer 6

It's more about equality and that's a social issue., Equal pay for equal work, the ability to get the same as men already enjoy. So many of our social customs come from a time when women stayed home and the man was THE breadwinner. Since that is not the case anymore the "rules" need to follow. Why should a single mother make less for her job since she is the sole breadwinner? It's ludicrous and ridiculously old fashioned. THAT'S what feminism is about. Women being treated as less than men.

Answer 7

Some individual feminists do hate men, but on a societal scale, we all want gender equality.

Answer 8

The feminist movement is essentially about equal rights for women but as with anything, there are some that take it to ridiculous extremes i.e. hating men and others who claim they want equality but want to pick and choose what that means.

Reasonable and educated feminists are prepared to 'take the rough with the smooth' for their cause and I actually give them credit, but far too many feminists are looking for either superiority of women or for bits of equality that suit their needs.

If women are to be equal, they should be prepared to do anything that men do. For example, if a huge and very heavy box of files need to be moved, don't look for the nearest man to do it. Don't expect men to take women out on dates and pay for everything etc. etc.

This is a similar thing to religion in that often 'church people' pick and choose what parts of their religion they are going to adhere to. For example, how many Catholic people use contraception? You just can't pick and choose and unfortunately too many feminists do exactly that.

Answer 9

The point is women ARE different then men and have different strengths. A fight that should have been for respect and equality has turned America into the no moral, instant gratification country it is now. Women have always been the moral compass of this society and now there is no one minding the store! Good job feminists...YOU DON'T speak on my behalf. I never asked to be superwoman...

Answer 10

The overall ideal of feminism is to give women equal oppurtunities as men.

Then from that stems more radical ideas that are not so much for equalizing the sexes, but in fact for "advancing" women beyond men in ways that I find to be destructive.

Just be careful about how someone plans to give women equal oppurtunities.