Saying "I'm not a feminist"?

Question

Why do young women today qualify things by saying "I'm not a feminist" and then agree with, and benefit from all the things that are on the feminist agenda. They are not a feminists because they don't have to be. Others did their fighting for them. If they are working and receiving equal wages, they benefit from feminsm. Why don't they realize this?

Answer 1

its because of the image that comes along with the word "feminist" in the west, which is mainly propagated by privileged white guys, and everyone else swallows it. Its scary how ideas that come out of pill-popping, hypocritical ideolouges like rush limbaugh get insinuated into popular conciousness, isnt it?

raj: I think you mean the responses from women who openly say they are not feminists and then proceed to be misandrist, and the two or three misandrist "feminists" on here.
2 problems here:

1) this is not an accurate sample of a popualtion and therefore proves nothing

2) this is an internet forum and also not an accurate reflection of the real world.

You saying that this forum validates Rush Limbaughs view of feminists is like saying this forum validates Andrea Dworkin's view of men. I would never even think something like that because it is a BS argument.

Answer 2

Why do young people today not realise how fortunate they are to have wonderful educational opportunities, tv, cars, Ipods ... it's exactly the same thing.

When my 15 year old nephew asks 'Why didn't you just use your mobile phone" to make an emergency call 35 years ago, I know just how much things have changed.

Young women don't identify with the work feminists did in the past because the world has changed, the social and political landscape looks different and for many of them they will not encounter the depth of difficulty and discrimination older women may have *personally* confronted, let alone face the *same* problems.

They have their own battles to fight and need to find their own way to do it. In the meantime, for those who come up against the continuing issues that cause concern, they can always find other women who will support them, encourage them and provide a context for their struggles through their own experience.

Despite the wishes of some, feminism is much more pervasive and widely implemented at grass roots levels than many are aware of, especially in new (post 1990) ways of thinking about social and workplace issues.

And there's a lot more to be learned and a lot more to be done.

In the meanwhile, this generation of women have to discover for themselves how to best approach their own lives and the challenges they will face. I hope for them they never need to draw on the help and experience of their foremothers, but if they do ... it's there.

Cheers :-)

Answer 3

I touched on it in the question that I asked yesterday but I don't think that some older women really and truly understand the reputation that feminists have. I realize that if someone hadn't come forward and fought I wouldn't be able to do the things that I do today and I sincerely appreciate that, however, the women that I have known that classify themselves as feminists are not women I want to be associated with. They were screaching shrews who complained about everything, took issue with everything, and didn't seem to understand themselves that the movement was about giving women choices and nothing more. They put down women who had traditional views of home and marriage and acted like they were somehow less intelligent than women who choose to have careers. They alienate women who support the movement but favor a more moderate approach to change. Of course, this isn't applicable to all feminists but it is applicable to all of the ones that I have met and seems to be applicable to many women here. It could be that they just feel really strongly and don't feel the need to see things from a different perspective; I don't really know. I'm here to learn so we'll see. At this point, the way that I see the movement is the same way that I see some civil rights leaders who are still in the public eye today - they did great things in their time and the way that they went about accomplishing their goals at the time was necessary and productive. Those same tactics and goals are no longer productive in the 21st century and until someone realizes that and the movement evolves, youre going to get a lot of hateration. Its this youre with us or against us (which of course means that youre stupid and ungrateful) mentality that really divides women today. Just because I think that changes should be made, just because I can see some problems with the mission of the movement doesnt mean that I dont support it and it doesnt mean that I'm not grateful for the women AND men who fought for us to have equal opportunity.

Answer 4

I do not know that I agree with everything on the feminist agenda because I have not studied the feminist agenda. I know that I have benefitted from the movement, and thus support it...but I can't call myself one (or can I just 'cause I'm female, you let me know?).
I've openly said that I have benefitted from it and mentioned that I do not call myself a feminist before in previous answers on YA. My Q&A is open to look at if you'd like.

Answer 5

Some young women today haven't had the experiences of those of us in our 50's and 60's, when we had extremely limited choices: marry and have kids or work in a few poorly paying occupations, with limited educational opportunities.

But some young women today still have limited educational opportunities, have limited employment options, and feel pressured to marry, have kids, and work, whether that's what they want or not. Some blame feminists for this, others see that some expectations of men and women still suck. Others in their 30's and 40's are finding out that sometimes life isn't as fair as they thought it was, gender discrimination is sometimes more subtle, but is still present.

Some people see the value of feminism from an early age, others have to hit a glass ceiling or lose their job, others have to age and go broke; then again, some people are fortunate, and never experience or never notice any gender discrimination.

Answer 6

Many do realize it but also see the faults with claiming to be a feminist, like getting jumped by trolls telling them that by saying they're a feminist they must be man-haters and baby-killers. It has never been easy to be a feminist so as long as they don't feel that they have suffered a particularly harsh prejudice because of their gender, they don't want the trouble. Every movement has its bystanders. People just don't want to stand up and do something about any issue if they can sit back and let someone else do the work.

Answer 7

Maybe those women just don't want to be connected to something seen as evil and man-hating by most men out there, otherwise they'll be seen as evil man-haters too.
Sometimes women who do identify as feminists do so willingly, others have it thrust upon them because the woman believes that she should have the same opportunities and worth as men.
Either way, while there is alot of hatred towards feminists and women, the movement will never die off completely. Just hope that some sense comes from both supporters and haters.

Answer 8

Because of the way that fiminist have portrayed themselves over the years. Because of the way that the media has portrayed them. Not all women agree with everything that the fiminist movement stands for. I have talked with a lot who don't think that it is doing any good anymore.

Now don't think that I am against the movement because I say this. I agree that women deserve equal access to jobs and equal pay for equal work, but there is absolutely no way that a man and a woman can be completely equal. They are completely different and thus can't be compared. There are things that a woman can get away with that a man could never do, but you don't see women saying that they are going to stop with certain advantages so they are equal with men. No they want all the advantages without the disadvantages. The movement always sounded like a "get your cake and eat it too" situation to me. Look at the movement. It is not the humanist movement to make all humans equal but rather a feminist movement which by name is only about promoting women. Ok I am done now. I am sure I am going to get yelled at for this one lol.

Answer 9

The entering of women into the workplace was more of a social economical movement than a feminist movement. Women, of course, have been in the workplace from the days of industrial factories where women worked menial task beside children while men worked menial task someplace else. This all changed after WWII when this country gained prosperity and tremendous wealth. We became the dominate country of this world. Not so in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, when we were an argriculture and factory based society. To send women into the coal mines would have been unheard of 100 years ago. Today plenty of young women deny they are feminists because feminists took too much credit for our changing world. In our post booming WWII economy this country needed the best and brightest to work. Not so 100 years ago when work for most was simply drugery. The young women today are well educated, assertive, and independent thinkers. They don't get taking in by the feminist hoopla and propaganda.They are smart to realize life is tough for everyone.

Answer 10

I don't blame anyone who wants to distance themselves from the cranky army that feminism became. Of course the average woman enjoys the benefits - why wouldn't they? That's just human nature.

Another way of putting the question is why some women are still prepared to call themselves feminists. It reminds me of the mindset of the Japanese soldier in World War II who bravely held out against the US in a dugout on a small island in the Philippines. However, he was a bit out of touch with the times, and didn't realize that the war eventually was won. Not realizing that he no longer had to fight, he bravely held out for another 29 years.

The obvious difference is that the feminist army won, so why they would keep up the good fight is a bit puzzling on the surface. I seriously wonder whether many self-described feminists are in it largely for the sense of having a purpose in life, and a sense of having someone to blame for their personal problems i.e. an enemy to fight. Psychologically this can be a powerful driver. Obviously others have made careers out of feminism (mainly academia and media) and there's no way those generals and majors are going to surrender - too much to lose (mortgage payments etc).

War's over guys. You won - lets move on and enjoy peacetime together.