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So what do the boys think?

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 01:56:26 PM EST
I (re)-met my wife at an anarchist convention. Probably I'm not the best person to ask. : )

Seriously though, I find it frightening that the idea of equality is held in such poor regard, and is so poorly understood. How can you not support feminism? It's like saying you don't support equality for people of colour.


We are for Justice and Mercy, and Truth and Peace, and true Freedom. Edward Burroughs 1659

by edwin on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 04:05:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Why would anyone find anyone even remotely interesting who wasn't interested in being equal?

(But then again my girlfriend and her friends made the inside pages of the Guardian ten years ago heckling some academics for not being feminist enough at a conference. so I'm probably not the best person to ask either)

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 04:30:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Why would anyone find anyone even remotely interesting who wasn't interested in being equal?

I really haven't the faintest idea, but trust me, they're out there.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 04:39:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I know they are out there, just I have such a mental disconnect that nothing they say make any sense.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.
by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 04:46:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I think it's better that way.  For you, at least.
by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 05:52:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yeah, you know, I just don't get it.  

How could someone honestly think, yeah, I'm OK with women not being paid the same for the same work, and I don't think women really need the same educational opportunities as men, and I don't think domestic violence is wrong, and in fact I just really think that women are less important than men and it doesn't really matter what happens to them.

I especially don't get that woman in the video who said something along the lines of I guess a feminist is someone who supports equal rights for women, and then the interviewer asked if she connsidered herself one, and she said no.  Because, you know, women should be inferior, which is exactly what her husband said next, essentially.

And my view is that if you don't consider yourself a feminist, then that's basically saying that you think women are and should be inferior to men, and I just don't get how anybody can think that way.  I mean, I think that attitude, and that kind of inequality, are actually bad for men, too.  But I really don't get why a woman would think that.

It is essentially saying that it'd OK for half of humanity to be considered less-human than the other half, and not entitled to the same rights.  And it's one thing (still unacceptable, but not as unimaginable) for someone to think that way when they're in the privileged half, but I just don't get why someone would think that way when they're not.

Sigh.

</rant>

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 04:32:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
That woman aside (who, from the interview I'm almost certain comes from a fundamentalist religion), I don't think most of the women/girls who automatically reject the feminist label are even thinking about equality.  They've swallowed the propaganda that equality is already here and that feminists are just angry, humorless, man-haters who like to burn undergarments.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes
by Izzy (izzy at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 04:46:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Right.  Whereas I'm an angry, humorless man-hater who likes to buy undergarments.  Big difference.
by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 04:47:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
That's a funny comment, so there must be something wrong with it somewhere...

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon Jun 18th, 2007 at 09:05:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I can't imagine what...
by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Mon Jun 18th, 2007 at 09:26:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]
There was a documentary on British TV recently about some sort of coaching to teach women to be subservient to their husbands. These women voluntarily submitted to the program. At one point they cut up all their bank cards because "it's so much better if the man handles all the finances". I suppose they'll be happy to be getting a regular allowance from their husbands.

It boggled the mind, because here were more or less outwardly liberated women seeking to be acculturated into submission.

I couldn't watch more than 30 seconds of it, but Barbara sat through a longer spell, in sick fascination I suppose.

Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 18th, 2007 at 09:11:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Why would she want a second date with dinosaurs who can't handle feminists? I say, make absolutely certain to discuss feminism on the first date and give yourself the chance of meeting someone worthwhile.

This reminds me a little of this good friend of mine who on the one hand can't seem to meet interesting guys for a long term relationship, and on the other since she lives in SoCal, thinks a boob job may be in order to meet that someone special. Go figure.

by Fete des fous on Fri Jun 15th, 2007 at 06:55:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Did I tell you about this other documentary on British TV about these girls who were getting plastic surgery to look like celebrities and in particular this poor girl who wanted to be Britney spears so she got the boob job, but as this didn't seem enough to whip her out of her shiness she enrolled in pole-dancing classes and wanted to become a stripper? She ultimately failed, I think.

Another one I couldn't stand more than 30 seconds of.

Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 18th, 2007 at 09:14:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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