What has given feminism a bad name?

Question

When I think about it... theres actually nothing wrong with seeking equal rights. I was just being prejudice before coz i didnt know any better. But really... whats driving the anti feminists from being against equality? Whats made feminism such a dirty word for some?

Answer 1

Back in the 70's, when feminism was just starting to garner attention, the women at the helm were Kate Millett, Ti-Grace Atkinson, Robin Morgan, and Valerie Solanas. They voiced the most opposition to men, and the press, with its indefatigable scandal bias, picked up on this more than they picked up on the efforts of more moderate feminists, such as Betty Friedan. So it was only natural that people would start to believe that feminists were man-haters.

Later, in the 80's, there was a very strong media backlash against the gains of women. Sources the country over claimed that women were rejecting feminism and careers and returning to the home, even though all statistics indicated the exact opposite. By the early 90's, it had managed to make some women follow their lead, though not many.

Answer 2

One of the things that sort of turned me away from the feminist movement was that some of these women were wanting name changes to common things. Such as some of them wanted to have the name of Manitoba changed cause it showed the word man. Some of them were quite upset with names such as mankind, so Canada changed the name of a museum to "Civilization"
Women have been walked on and abused for centuries but it will take some clever women to change this and things as names are not really much help

Answer 3

I will restate my answer from a previous question.


The extremists have done a lot of damage - and because there has never been any uproar (as there would have been if a man wrote about women in the same way), it is logically assumed that other feminists are either in agreement or unwilling to acknowledge Dworkin and the like were wrong, wrong & wrong.

IOW, their lack of opposing the man-haters is their responsibility.

Feminist organisations & politicians have done immeasurable damage too. For example, Patricia Hewett (British feminist politician) was found guilty of sexual discrimination by intentionally screwing a qualified man out of a job in favour of a less qualified (for the job) woman. I was on an interview panel for Social Services, and our feminist boss gave the job to a woman (who had received zero points) over the man who had all the points & qualifications. That aside, I enquired recently with my college's student union president (a feminist) and she refuses to allow a 'mens officer' while we do have a 'womens officer'.
I'm saying, not only have I read of feminist discrimination against men, but I have seen it happen with my own eyes as well.
Then, we have the likes of NOW feminists who insist on calling 'fathers rights' or 'mens rights' activists as being child abusers, wife beaters, etc. while simultaneously, they have gone to court & defended child abusers and husband killers. Also, Mary Daly refused to teach Womens Studies to a male applicant because... he was male. She was eventually sakced for discrimination (as well as claiming she had to 'dumb down' the lessons for men). A group of feminists put up an online petition to get her reinstated, however they did not tell the 'whole truth'. They worded it so as it avoided acknowledging that Mary Daly had discriminated. They claimed she had refused one 'student' because 'the student' did not qualify for the class. What that mean in layman terms was that he did not 'qualify' because he was 'male'. The attempts to trick people into signing the petition is a clear example of how feminists manipulate words in order to trick the masses - just as has been done repeatedly with 'rape surveys' (1 in 4 was a miscalculation by the feminist who conducted the survey - though SHE has admitted the error, feminists world wide insist on repeating it despite being debunked) and 'domestic violence' (they intentionally didn't ask men about their experiences of d/v - thus giving intensely skewed results). The list of misinformation goes on & on..

People are waking up the hypocrisies and hyperbole of feminism - and in turn, this is damaging feminism yet further.

Answer 4

To be honest, and I am a bit of a feminist, but I am more of a realist, I think it is that a lot of feminist groups support the idea of unequal rights... that women should have more rights than men. It gives people a sour taste in their mouths, and people cannot see past it and consider feminists just another group of picketing freaks who want everything for nothing. Nobody seems to embrace being moderate anymore.

Answer 5

Hey, Mr Love - When you said "whats driving the anti feminists from being against equality?" you got the wrong end of the stick. Masculists (what you call anti-feminists) are not against EQUALITY. It's been demonstated numerous times on these forums and elsewhere that the feminism cult is not about equality at all. It's about hatred of men and normal women and about SUPERIORITY.

Answer 6

Before I found this forum I didn't know about the backlash. This seems to be primarily an American phenomena; American pop-culture encourages and embraces vulgar behavior, it would appear. Ignorant and bigmouthed radio talk-show hosts, tv 'personalities', etc. - all spouting the most offensive garbage imaginable. Each egomaniac trying to be more shrill and repulsive than the next - in order to sell books, and otherwise to capitalise on the uproar they cause by offending and upsetting people. This crap would never make it on to Canadian airwaves; the CRTC would pull the offender's license in a heartbeat. Canadians just wouldn't tolerate it.

This deplorable state of affairs in the USA is the subject of Susan Faludi's important book, "Backlash" .

Answer 7

Because men of today feel that they are directly being blamed for the fact that inequality exists....and they reject that blame. They do not feel it's fair for feminists to blame them for something they did not create. They are correct, in a sense, that they did not create it, but, what some fail to understand is that through their actions and their beliefs, they may be contributing and/or sustaining some of that residual inequality that still resonates today. The antis seem to be hung up on the fact that they didn't cause this, but they refuse to take responsibility for helping to eliminate it. And yet, men today do have a responsibility, because if they do not allow women into traditionally male-dominated jobs, or, they allow themselves to be beneficiaries of "male privilege," they ARE helping to sustain the inequality, whether they realize it or not- and that's part of the problem. I think some of the feminists are angry- angry at the plight of women, and angry at men who do not understand their role in contributing (by sustaining) it. Some feminists have taken their anger to the point of hatred. These are few, but their voices are loud, and their beliefs are, of course, fueled by their anger. Those that are extreme do more harm to the movement than good. They shift focus away from the tasks at hand: solving the problem, and instead engage men and women into an endless, fruitless gender war.

EDIT: Antimisandry: women got the right to vote only ten years later? Where did you get that from? Over a span of much longer than ten years (in the US), women had the right to vote in a few states, then had it taken away, repeatedly. Please post proof of what you are saying.

Answer 8

There has been backlashes against civil rights, feminism, muslims (after 9/11), being pc and products made in china. so, we as femisnists, are no different from other groups in receiving backlash.

some of the men's rights or father's rights groups, along with conservatives and christians have lead the most damaging assaults against feminism. they feel stuck in their roles, believe feminism only cares about women, believe violence against men is tolerated and feel discriminated against in divorce and custody. most hate feminism, gay rights and progressive movements.

they themselves often use skewed stats, whining and victimization. as well, they have killed judges, verbally harrassed women and pulled stunts for publicity.

they try to attack the gains made by women, esp. with domestic violence and rape.

fortunately, most people think of them as 'weirdo groups' - however, they are organized and they do lobby for/against laws.

and, i suppose, there have been 'weirdo groups' of feminists. i don't read or follow them, but they, like the fanatical fathers, would reflect badly on the group.

we're also blamed for everything - divorce, bad children, and all the other ills of society so i have very little sympathy for men who claim feminists blame them for everything. women have been blamed for original sin (and we're still paying for it), the symbolist of the 1880s (creators of the femme fatale) blamed women for the destruction of men, and today, we're blamed for all modern ills.

in contrast, i think the women's movement has been one of the most peaceful rights movement in the history of the world. we've not killed or physically hurt anyone to achieve our rights. (i don't count the nutcase who shot andy warhol - writer of the scum manifesto - considering her a typical feminist is like considering the uni-bomber a typical man). and yet, nobody acknowledges our peaceful movement. we have few statues or any other commemorations. one day, history (when/if women ever get included in mainstream textbooks) will acknowledge it.

and on a personal note, most men i know - sane ones - while not fulling embracing feminism or calling themselves feminists, do not attack it and most respect feminists because we are independent and self-reliant as persons - making for good friends or partners.

Answer 9

Because feminism isn't about equality. It is about giving women all the advantage.

Answer 10

Women who hate men, yet turn right around and dress and act like men.

Odd, n'est-ce pas?