Okay, this is disturbing!
I sometimes go on Yahoo!Answers to try to answer people’s questions when I am bored. One individual by the name of "Jimmy MD" asked the following question:
“WTF is a feminist and what do they think about woman...what is their stance?”
I replied trying to make it as accurate and inoffensive as possible, and yet I got no “thumbs ups” and 5 “thumbs downs.” Other answers were completely offensive and disturbing. I can’t believe some people ... As much as I like trying to help people on Yahoo!Answers, I often come away feeling hurt or saddened by the ignorance, arrogance, bigotry, abuse, and the lack of any regard people seem to have for one another. If anyone wants evidence for the relevance for feminism in today’s society, all they need do is spend time on Yahoo!Answers. The following are some quotes from other repliers to this question:
Someone who calls himself “The Grappler” had this to say, “Feminists as such range from the artery hardened lockstep strap-on lunatic fringe, who hate men and believe that all their personal 'issues' are caused by men.” Isn’t that charming? I wonder if, by “artery hardened” he was calling feminists unhealthily fat or just heartless? I am guessing the latter, because let’s face it, working to stop prejudice in ALL areas isn’t exactly a loving or selfless thing to do ... oh wait ... it is!
Another replier who goes by “Joe Bloggs” said, “... Another example, is when a young mother murders five of her children by bashing a rock into their head or drowning them in a bathtub, feminists blame the husband rather than the murderous woman.” So basically, Joe Bloggs believes that feminists – ALL feminists mind you – condone murder, and are perhaps murderers themselves. He also claims, “feminists will talk about this or that company which has had issues with sexism and how women are treated. Yet it consistantly fails to address sexism directed at men.” I find this strange as it is not only inaccurate but my reply actually disproves this. We care very deeply about sexism against men!
And now, my personal favourite is the reply by “peterdouglaszohrab” who states, “Deep down, it's really just that Feminists think men are bad and women are good. This means that, if a Feminist has a job which carries with it the power to decide some issue which pits a man against a woman, she will automatically side with the woman, because nothing negative that the man says about the woman will be at all credible to the Feminist, whereas everything bad that the woman says about the man will seem obviously true to the Feminist.
And what makes that worse is that women tend to go for jobs that involve (power over) people, whereas men go for jobs that involve things.
That's why Feminists should not have jobs.”
Wow! I do not even know how to comment on this one. I think it speaks for himself.
Even if these men believe that feminism is really only about women’s issues, shouldn’t they at least respect that out of respect for the women in their lives such as THEIR MOTHERS! Not to mention WIVES or DAUGHTERS!
If you ask me these men, and probably others who regard feminism with such hostility, feel personally inferior to women for some reason – possibly because they have encountered women in their lives who had a superior education or job position. Where else would they get the hostility? Deep down inside they miss the times when men naturally were given jobs and placements at schools over women just because they were men and not because they worked (or could work) any harder than women. They know now they can’t just walk into a job interview and say, “Okay, here I am! I’m the only man applying for this job, so I guess you have to give the job to me!” They know that they can’t do that now, but they know there was a time they could have, and that just boils their blood!
Here’s the definition I gave. I had to add some more information to it a couple of times based on the other hostile answers I saw, but I think we can all agree my answer is more accurate than those of the uninformed bigots:
The most basic and accurate definition of a feminist is:
someone - male OR female - who believes in equality for everyone regardless of gender, race, ethnic background, health and dis/ability, sexual orientation, financial situation, religion, creed, etc ...
This does not mean that all feminists agree with each other on every issue - far from it! But we try to acknowledge that we all have certain biases, and try to recognise what their own are.
Many believe that feminists are automatically women, often lesbians, and often women who feel that women are superior to men. Believe it or not, this view is false and completely against what feminism really is. Real feminism is the opposite of bigotry. I understand if someone does not want to consider themself a feminist out of not wanting to subscribe to a label, but as far as I am concerned, anyone who is AWARE of the true definition of feminism and is AGAINST it is admitting bigotry and should not be trusted.
I will leave you with a link to a feminist blog for men, as well as one for girls and another that is more inclusive in case you would like to explore this further.
Source(s):
I feel I should add that my mother actually experienced and witnessed a lot of sexism and sexual harrassment at her place of work. She worked for a big company, of which there was eventually an inquiry into how the women were being treated, so if anyone tries to convince you that feminism is somehow dead, that its problems are solved, or that the issues a feminist fights are myths, they are either gravely mistaken or benefitting from someone else's disenfranchisement or abuse.
http://www.mascmag.com/
http://bitchmagazine.org/
http://www.shamelessmag.com/
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