Are these in contradiction?

Question

This is inspired by Tera's question...

I see the anti-feminists on here frequently making two statements:

1) Feminism is destructive to society. (Here they will talk about divorce rates, children without fathers, feminization of men, affirmative action, etc.)

2) Most women are not feminists. (They LOVE to point this out, with surveys of women who claim that they are not feminists)

So...where is this power of feminism to destroy society coming from, if most women (and most men) are not feminist? This seems to me to be a contradiction.

BTW--I don't support affirmative action.

Also, I think there IS a national crisis of children, especially boys, growing up without fathers. (But I don't blame this on feminism).

Hey, Zee Lee. I'm a stay-at-home Dad. I think feminism made that possible.

Answer 1

Feminism is a doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.

I dont see how that can be destructive to society.

And if gender equality IS destructive to a society, then I guess that society needed a good kick in the *** anyway.

Answer 2

I agree, there are many inconsistencies expressed by anti-feminists. Which is ironic, since a big complaint among anti-feminists, is the inconsistencies of feminism!

I just saw recent stats about divorce and they are actually lower than they were decades ago.

I have no idea if most women are feminists or not, since each time a young woman sees the definition of feminism, they often go, oh, I agree with that. So if men and women found out what feminism means, are they for it, but if they rely on stereotypes, are they against it?

I don't think feminists have changed society as much as anti-feminists think-I think access to birth control and abortion created a huge shift in our society. We are one of the first few generations of people who have ever been able to control our reproduction 99% of the time. That's amazing. Women don't have to be baby-machines for the first time in human history.

I also don't understand how some anti-feminists can make derogatory comments about women. It defeats their message, since it's hard to believe they really care about women. Saying that women are only good for caretaking and nothing else sounds like they just care about themselves and what they feel they aren't getting, that they think they "deserve" to get, instead of supporting both men and women's choices to take care of their home and children.

Answer 3

Actually, there seem to be many contradictions. Antis say that feminists are destroying the institution of marriage, but at the same time they say that some people really are better off divorced (where there is abuse or infidelity). They say that women should stay home and take care of their kids, but they don't think women should utilize welfare benefits (single moms have a terrible time making ends meet, and so do single-income families). They say that feminists are supporting a hate movement, but I see no feminists being put on trial for hate crimes. They say that feminists want "hand outs" but I see feminists denouncing affirmative action quotas. And yes, they claim that most women are not feminists, yet if most are not, then where has the power come from to change laws that have supported inequality? They also say that (and this is the biggest contradiction of all, if you ask me) that it is THEM who have "given" us our "power," and that we wouldn't have the rights and liberties we have today if it weren't for THEM. (And, if this were true, then what on earth are they complaining about? LOL!)

Answer 4

QUESTION When did Nebuzaradan enter Jerusalem? The quotations do not contradict each other because the first says he "came UNTO" and the second he "came INTO" Evidently he arrived *AT* Jerusalem to direct operations from the 7th but actually ENTERED Jerusalem three days later on the 10th. Thus various translations reder the verse he "came TO Jerusalem" on the 7th but "came INTO Jerusalem" later. It is a matter of historical fact that Jerusalem (notably Solomon's temple) was first looted and THEN burnt, so the above makes perfect sense. BTW Liz Kings and Jeremiah were written by the same person (Jeremiah)....

Answer 5

First of all let Me just say that I believe that ''SAHF' need every bit of support that society can give Them too.
Right. Feminism, Masculinism, Misogyny, Misandry.....'Mis' this or '...ism' that has nothing (OK, very little) to do with the way a marriage falls apart. It is the people and how They interact with Their spouse. Marriage is not just a partnership and a culturally acceptable way to obtain conjugal rights, it is a system of compromises and mutual obligations between two people. Sometimes things fall apart because one member of the conjoined pair thinks that 'He' has more rights, or should have greater access to the majority of rights, than should the other party. The struggle for 'dominance' in the marriage rather than the pursuit of an equitable arrangement is far more often the cause of the breakdown of the matrimonial status quo. When a marriage falls apart it is nobody elses fault other than the initiator of the negative input.
Society is not to blame, 'people' are to blame.

Answer 6

In my opinion, most women are feminists, but shy away from self-identifying as same because of the stupid stigma attached to the word.

I agree with you--how could children being abandoned by their fathers be the fault of feminism? Why isn't anybody talking about men's attitudes being the problem?

Divorce rates were highest in the 1980s (5.3 per 1,000), and are currently at their lowest rate since 1970, 3.6 per 1,000. So that supposed "destructive problem" is not actually one.

Feminists, while some may support affirmative action, were not the cause of its creation nor of its continuation.

Answer 7

They could be in contradiction but I think you might be jumping to a conclusion too quickly. You forgot that even a small group of people can change things. So even if feminists are a minority of the population it doesn't mean that they are powerless. Having a large group of people does not necessarily confer power to that group. Conversely having a small band of people doesn't make you weak. There are many ways to grasp power and to change a society. Just look at African Americans. They are a small minority (about 20% of the pop) yet they changed American society. So my answer is no they are not in contradiction.

Answer 8

I wouldn't say most women are not feminists, because I think that to some degree most women are (and then we anti-feminists actually squash back our own feminist degree), some are more flamboyant with it though. And those who are flamboyant manage to increase the degree of feminism in women making them more flamboyant and its just a repetitive cycle.

Answer 9

High divorce rates can be attributed in feminism in that it helped liberalize divorce laws. But that doesn't mean it caused more bad marriages. It just freed more people up to get out of them.

Fatherless children can only be attributed to feminism in certain cases. Most women who actually choose to be single mothers are able to support themselves and their kids. Others have been abandoned in some way.

Men have not been entirely feminized. If they are embracing any feminine qualities they may have, what's so bad about that? Everyone has to be true to themselves.

I don't support gender-based hiring, either. It may have helped in the 70's, but we have no use for it now.

Most women support the basic principles of feminism, but refuse to wear the label. They fear being ostracized by those who believe that feminism is to blame for high divorce rates, fatherless children, and feminized men.

Answer 10

Well, even though most women SAY they aren't feminists, the fact is that most of them are, since most women believe in gender equality.

That said, I like Rio's answer on the issues you mentioned (divorce rates, children without fathers, affirmative action, etc.).

All that being said, I also don't support affirmative action, or any kind of hiring that places any value of one gender or race over another. Honestly I don't even see why employment applications make you select your gender or race anymore.