Feminism... For... or Against?

Define what you think feminism is.

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

Why or why not?

Executive summary for future posters and points to consider before you rant/flame:

This thread has ended up focusing heavily on several different issues,
-misandry vs. feminism
-are feminists striving for equal rights or are they man-hating whiners
-what feminism even is
-whether or not women today are equal to men (some say yes, others no)
-and whether or not being a feminist makes you think men are misogynists
-if being an anti-feminist makes you a misogynist
-if women's rights are at stake, why? is it societal oppresion, or a lack of hard work, or the nature of the sexes?

as you can tell, a lot of these are playing with semantics or gross generalizations. as you debate, be on the looking for misunderstandings and refusal to take into account what the other person is saying and using your own definitions of the terms here over their points, which probabaly define feminism or anti-feminism very different ways.

The mirriam webster definition of feminism is posted somewhere in this thread cut and paste along the lines of
1. goal of social, political, and economic equality between the sexes
2. activism on the behalf of women's issues

but the working definition many people on the thread who take issue with feminism seems to be a combination of
extreme/radical, agressive feminism mixed with misandry/blaming lack of equality on others or ignoring present equality.

So many of the proposed anti-feminists are pro-equal rights, which makes sense or no sense depending on your view of feminism.

With this is mind you can now
1. debate peacefully without name-calling or taking the other out of context
2. not bash either gender as no person, no matter how irritating, is the representative of a single sex
3. keep your cool and make your points because those can speak for you
4. contrinute fascinating dialouge on this heated topic

:)

It's basically just woman empowerment movement.

My view of it is the same as my view on religion, minority rights and gay rights: you're free to do whatever you want just don't bother people with it.

To me, lobbying for equal rights is perfectly fine, and I believe we've achieved it in the US. However, now we have a subset of people who annoyingly call everything misogynistic. I like to be a gentleman, and I enjoy traditional gender roles, if you don't enjoy it, you don't need to participate. The same goes with burka, it's a tradition, if people want to wear it, don't hassle them for it. There are now people who say that the traditional role of 'mother' should be overturned....

Anyway, it's these vocal and radical feminists that make the entire term something cringe worthy.

Pro-feminism; because I don't believe anyone should be punished for being born.

I support feminism when it means equality. I don't support it when it means cutting men's balls off.

Is there a term for wanting the equality of all humans? Humanist? I'd really like to know this term, if it exists.
I know all humans are born equal, so that would be a great term for me to know.

Originally Posted by MissingLinc

I support feminism when it means equality. I don't support it when it means cutting men's balls off.

I'm fairly sure you're confusing feminism with misandry. Don't let the extremists take a perfectly good word and shit all over it.

Originally Posted by adverseaffects

Define what you think feminism is.

For females: A coping mechanism used by outcasts who will then predictably resort to slinging mindless rhetoric in order to fruitlessly bring down well-adjusted, genuinely self-confident individuals.

For males: The only viable option to getting nookie for themselves.

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

No.

Why or why not?

Because things were so much better 60 years ago.
Duh.

@Duck_of_Death

Dead serious or troll?? /:-*

Not sure so I'll just launch ahead as though you aren't~
Do you believe women are already in an equal position to men so they should stop whining, or they should in fact be inferior?

Please clarify your definition-- you say it's a coping mechanism to make women feel better and to bring down well-adjusted males, but is the coping mechanism point the chauvinist finger of blame to feel better or is asking for equality a coping mechanism when women should be in their gender-segregated position of cooking and "nookie"?

Dead serious.

Originally Posted by Duck_of_Death

For males: The only viable option to getting nookie for themselves.