Though I find the constant feminism related posts on here irritating this is a really good video. She makes some really good points and I agree fully with her point about how real victims of sexism would be better helped by cutting the excesses and hysteria out of feminism. I will point out one thing though and this pertains to the part about women being steered in different career directions. I have a roommate who has been an excellent student her whole life and her dream is to become a pediatric neurologist. However the health professions department "counselors" have repeatedly tried to coax her into being a PA without giving a real reason. Given her grades it is probably safe to assume that their reason for being so fixated on her switching to PA has some kind of sexist origin even if only subconsciously. I have heard this happening to other female students as well. Of course I can't speak for society as a whole because this is only one university, and a Christian one at that, and
You do know that she is still free to choose though. If men go into higher paying jobs because they are less swayed by peer pressure then that is not a failing of men, but of women. However the people advising your friend are mature professionals who arguably know a lot more than she does. Did you ever consider that they actually are thinking about her best interests. I saw it so many times at Uni, and it only seemed to happen to the girls; they had some ridiculous dream about what career they were going to pursue, without any concern for the volume and duration of work it would entail. One of the most pronounced cases was a girl who wanted to become an Astronaut, against the advice of her tutors; she dropped out of that career path very quickly and now she is a single mother working shifts at Target.
Wanting to be a neurologist is a bit more realistic than wanting to be an astronaut. She isn't some ditz who thought "oh this would be fun" but thanks for assuming she has no idea what she's doing. Her mother has had epilepsy for decades which is what made her want to be one not just some whim. She has been getting great grades since elementary school, has her CNA certification, and has been volunteering at hospitals for years this isn't some outlandish dream because it is people like HER that become doctors because if they didn't then who could? The "advisors" are half blind old nurses who can't even keep track of who is actually IN the med programs. They called me multiple times and I am and always have been a business major which I had to tell them 6 times in each conversation. And men aren't usually "peer pressured" into lower paying positions because people don't usually doubt their intelligence with no evidence to back it up.
But like why doesn't she talk about rape culture? Or how true feminism fights for equal rights for both genders? She doesn't even talk about battered women all she talks about is jobs.
She's talking about the most common misgivings that certain feminists parade upon. She's not derailing femminsim, just pointing out a certain inaccuracy.
Yes, all I'm saying is she pointed out three key issues but only expands on one. If your going to make an informative video cover all the issues you point out. Just like an essay, you learn this in middle school.
I actually really like what she has to say. to be honest, I feel like women in society are very much equal to men. It's within the home where there are problems of respect and unequal treatment. Most families these days need two working parents to survive. With two parents working full time, rarely are the house hold choirs and parenting responsibilities shared equally. Part of the problem is that men have been told that they have no place with children, that they cannot teach and nurture. That they are not successful unless their success is in work and money. Men have been told for a long time that their role is not in the home. So now that we have families who need two workers, we now need to parents to split house hold duties. And it isn't happening. Many men were never taught how to cook, clean, or care for a child. And while they may be willing, no knowledge or confidence in their ability means they continue to not participate and help their partners.
From my own experience, when a man is told that his time is not valued when it is spent in the home, and that his only value comes from making money, he will then not value those who do spend their lives raising children and keeping house.
I'm sure other people have had experiences that contradict my own.
Anyway, both mothers and fathers have got to teach their sons how to be a future parent and partner. All children should be taught how to cook, clean, and take care of a child, just like all children should be educated and encouraged to find something they are good at and can make money in.
The only time in my life that I've ever felt oppressed simply because I was female, was not at work or at school or out in the world. It was while I was married.
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· 10 years ago
The title should be "The loudest feminist 1% vs Truth", because feminism is actually exactly what she would call "equity feminism", something she agrees with. Generalizing like she does is a terrible misconception.
I don't really support feminist for me, I support feminist for all the women that are actually oppressed. And I'm not saying no one is oppressed in America, but there are women who are much worst off that I want to help.
Just because you used to have 1 meal a day and now you have 2 does not mean you should not try to have a full 3. Yes, women have come a long ways, but the fact is, there are still a lot of places where women aren't equal to men. Mostly in third world countries, but still here, too. No, it is not the biggest deal in the fucking world to be called a slut, but it is a big deal to be accused of false rape accusations pretty much every time it comes up. You don't see someone being asked "what were you wearing" when they were mugged in a bad area, because it doesn't matter if someone is wearing gold chains, a suit, and diamonds, getting robbed is wrong, and robbers get punished.
I agree with most of the video, though. It's stupid that people say that women should do something that most women don't just because most women don't. Do what makes you happy, even if that's being a full-time mother.
What you wear obviously makes a difference in how people perceive you. Trayvon Martin comes to mind, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't a girl. And you would never get a businessman walking through a ghetto full of gangbangers because the way he is dressed makes him a target.. It is naive to think that nothing you do affects how somebody thinks about you, because that is what you are really saying.
No, that's not what I'm saying, I'm saying that it doesn't effect the crime. I'm saying that it shouldn't be questioned in the first place, in any crimes.
when my friend said, "Why does the father have to walk the bride down the isle? It's so sexist." I honestly wanted to just lie down and sleep right there. The majority of women in western society are hardly being stomped under the boot of men.
The majority of the things people complain about aren't bad, that doesn't mean the majority don't have problems. A recent study showed that 3 of 5 women living in college dorms are sexually assaulted during their time there.
Estimates vary greatly as to the number of women who experience a sexual assault during college, with surveys focused on the United States placing it as low as 1 in 50 (2%) to as high as 1 in 4 (25%).
One study found the rate of male victims to be 1 in 7 (14%). 3/5 is too high and not just women ar sexually assaulted.
Ha yeah right. This statistic only holds water if you broaden the scope of what constitutes "sexual assault" until it loses all meaning. It's like me saying that you sexually assaulted me as a man because you looked at my crotch.
As a feminist myself there are exerts in things she fails to mention which are issues in western society. Firstly, we live in capitalist systems, meaning that the markets dictate society's values. Women are purposefully objectified and made to by Beauty products. Secondly, only 7% of directors are women while only 16% of film protagonists are women this is a major misrepresentation of women in popular culture. Thirdly, the objectification of women which is, turning a human into an object, is the first step into justifying violence against them, this is where the rape culture comes from. I would also like to point out that women are hugely underrepresented in powerful jobs. 17% of congress is made up of women, whilst powerful media companies like fox only have one women on a board of 16! In terms of Australian democracy, we only have one woman in cabinet! How is one woman meant to represent more than half of Australia. And keep in mind racial and class stratification, plays a huge part.
Listen, I just made a quick run through your comments, and you are exactly what's wrong with modern feminism.
Whenever you encounter a post like this, you throw up the same points repeatedly and regularly nitpick for things to complain about.
Men are objectified as well. Also, whether women are properly represented in culture isn't a very good point. Sure, there are women portrayed as pornstars, but there are also women who are patched as badass spies/soldiers, competent doctors, and compassionate, trustworthy people.
Now, lets take a moment to consider the rest of your points. Not many women are interested in a political career, and many who are, are also incompetent man haters. And you also use ONE SINGLE NEWS STATION to represent the entirety of media. Sound familiar?
As I have through yours, and all I see is a gun loving violent young man. Seriously chill out brother. Feminism means creating an equal society and that includes men. Yes you are right men are objectified, but not nearly to the extent women are. Nor are they objectified as violently and systematically. Women are poorly represented in the media and you're blind or ignorant if you can't see that. Bad ass spies and soldiers which are referred to by educators as "fighting fuck toys" because they don't represent true empowerment, but further sexualise women. The amount of women represented as good people is considerably small, due to the male domination of media creation. Fox is not the only agency, Disney only has 4 women a board of 13, NBC 4 women of 17 board members, Warner 2 women of 13 board members, CBS only 2 of 14 board members. Only 5.8% of television is owned by women. Do you think that is ample enough representation?
And I don't 'complain', I make valid and coherent arguments based on facts. I don't agree with radical feminism. But you can't completely deny there is something wrong with how women are represented. I would also like to point out that it also stems from class division in society which is why third wave feminism emerged in the first place. And by the way, I read the things you wrote about terrorism and bombing other countries and it further amplifies my argument whilst undermining yours.
Just a thought: maybe the reason feminists use the same points is because no one else really listens and responds to them well? No one worth listening to says that men don't have problems, and no one here is saying that, but there is an inequality.
On related posts, it seems fair to post our opinions, even if they aren't all rainbows an butterflies, don't you think? I am very grateful that I can vote and run for office (eventually, still a little too young for that), that I can get a job to support my cat and it can be anything I choose, so long as I put in the effort. I grew up with those things and I don't have any idea what it would be like to not have them. I'm extremely grateful that I can live by myself, or get married as I choose and that it's my choice. However, I'm not okay with walking down the street feeling afraid because of my gender, and maybe that's partly my fault and partly because of my own experiences, but if I'm alone, men who show interest honestly scare me. (Unless of course they're being respectful and actually talking about common interests and seem like guys who want to date me and not just fuck me.) And of course no amount of protesting will ever get rapists to stop doing their thing, but just being able
to know that, hey, these guys are cool, they aren't going to try anything just because I'm alone, would be nice. And maybe the answer is to change women's perspectives rather than how men act, maybe it's vice versa, or maybe it's a combination. However it happens, though, something needs to change. And you know? There needs to be more safety for sexual assault victims, no matter the gender. Yes, it's called feminism, but that doesn't always mean "hey, we want girls to have all the rights, because men already have everything". That's rarely what it means. It means, hey, something is fucking wrong here, and no matter who the fuck it's for, we need to improve the human rights here. We need to make sure that no one feels ashamed about confessing how they were abused, that anyone can come forward and say "hey, this isn't right, and I don't feel safe", men or women or somewhere in between.
Raven you raise some valid points. People should be able to feel safe. Of course, like other things, no one can agree on any way to make that happen.
Lisa, I just re read your comment, and while I commend you for finding similar examples in news stations (even though some aren't even close to being boys clubs), I just noticed that you cherry picked my comment for so-called "fighting fuck toys" completely ignoring the doctors and the compassionate portrayals women.
Also, please disregard my thoughts on how to combat terrorism. That is a different argument I will gladly engage in at a different post. It's really irrelevant to this convo.
I didn't disregard it, I said that yes those portrayals of women are great but they are a minority compared to the majority. And I would consider it a boys club. Here's why, consider this; 52% of the world is made of women, meaning we are the majority. So if we really wanted to be truly represented in all government institutions then all bodies of government including the legislative branch and the media should have an equal amount of women as men. Meaning broadcasting stations like Disney or Warner should have at least 6 women on their board. Regardless of all this, I would like to point out much like missraven did that I consider myself privelleged to have had an education, to be able to express my opinion. But one cannot ignore the Misogny in other nations nor the pseudo representation we receive in developed countries. I'm not complaining, because I think we have it good, mostly.
There is still a rape culture in most developed countries. It is scary that 1 in 5 teens are abused by their boyfriends. Women are abused by men more than men are abused by women, clearly that needs to be addressed. This video offers an interesting talk for men; http://youtu.be/KTvSfeCRxe8
Just my two sense, and this bit may be completely wrong, but I think the largest reason people can't agree on how to make it happen is because a large number of people don't really think about it. I think that the majority of people, victims or not, don't realize how often it happens (and that might just be my state because we're all sexually sheltered and uneducated). And then, when people try to point it out, it is usually in context like this, where because they don't know how to word it or because they themselves aren't sure about some things, or because that's how they mean it, it comes across as "we need to fix this for only women", and so everybody disregards it as a feminazi rather than realizing that there might actually be a problem. There /are/ more women abused, at least as far as we can tell, but due to the fact that men never seem to talk about it, or because of the seemingly popular belief that men "can't" be abused by women, we don't actually know how often that occurs.
It would be ignorant to say that men don't get abused by women, because they do. And it's not fair to disregard men based solely on a macho paradox. It is very sad that men aren't allowed to be weak nor show 'feminine' emotions, because society dictates to them that they must be masculine. And I think that's part of the problem. We should teach young boys that it's okay to have feelings and to cry rather than suppress their emotions. From my own experience, in Australia, I know a lot of young girls who have been hit by partners, and we have some sort of social contract to ignore the problem. But maybe the real issue is that men feel they aren't allowed to be emotional therefore the oppression of emotion might be contributing to the epidemic of domestic violence and sexual assault?
Why did that get downvoted, honestly? Do you feel like guys /don't/ get called a sissy if they cry or show interest in "feminine" things like knitting or baking? Because they do, all the damn time. Don't teach little boys to "act like a man" when they're sad, teach them that hey, dudes get sad too and that's fucking okay. And you know what else is related to that that is absolutely ridiculous? I'm pretty sure that part of the reason guys don't come forward when they get abused by women is because of how many times you've heard on TV boys scoffing because another dude got hit by a girl. Oh, he's so weak a girl hurt him, rather than "hey, this guy is getting hurt, we should do something about it".
Oh I totally agree! Even when you see headlines in the news of boys getting raped or sexually assaulted by women, you have ignorant people commenting on it saying 'way to go' or 'that kid is so lucky'. If it was swapped and it was a girl the reaction is completley different. Both genders receive stereotypical forms of victim blaming, in my opinion. Girls get the 'what were you wearing?' And the 'were you drinking?' While guys receive the nonchalant 'you got lucky' or 'your a man, why did you let her hit you'. Both these characterisations are so wrong.
I think she brings up many important points on why feminism is misleading. It is difficult to be completely in support of feminism when it is often one sided or the opposing side is bashed for expressing their opinion. She is very nonconfrontal in the video and I appreciate her attitude
The most interfesting part is how the pay gap between men and women is never controlled for the type of job. When someone rattles off that 23 percent dicrepancy, and I've asked if that accounts for job type (doctor vs. nurse) or years worked, the answer is always "I'm sure they MUST HAVE accounted for that."But, it turns out that "they"have not.
I don't know, my best friend's mother gets paid less than her subordinates, because they're all men. *shrug* It could have to do with her job, but that still seems a little strange to me.
I'm sure other people have had experiences that contradict my own.
Anyway, both mothers and fathers have got to teach their sons how to be a future parent and partner. All children should be taught how to cook, clean, and take care of a child, just like all children should be educated and encouraged to find something they are good at and can make money in.
The only time in my life that I've ever felt oppressed simply because I was female, was not at work or at school or out in the world. It was while I was married.
One study found the rate of male victims to be 1 in 7 (14%). 3/5 is too high and not just women ar sexually assaulted.
Whenever you encounter a post like this, you throw up the same points repeatedly and regularly nitpick for things to complain about.
Men are objectified as well. Also, whether women are properly represented in culture isn't a very good point. Sure, there are women portrayed as pornstars, but there are also women who are patched as badass spies/soldiers, competent doctors, and compassionate, trustworthy people.
Now, lets take a moment to consider the rest of your points. Not many women are interested in a political career, and many who are, are also incompetent man haters. And you also use ONE SINGLE NEWS STATION to represent the entirety of media. Sound familiar?
Lisa, I just re read your comment, and while I commend you for finding similar examples in news stations (even though some aren't even close to being boys clubs), I just noticed that you cherry picked my comment for so-called "fighting fuck toys" completely ignoring the doctors and the compassionate portrayals women.
Also, please disregard my thoughts on how to combat terrorism. That is a different argument I will gladly engage in at a different post. It's really irrelevant to this convo.
I don't care if I'm posting on old as hell posts