Okay, so moderating comments and looking at trackbacks through Feministe, I just randomly saw like three different people make the “feminism is cool, but stuff like X (different each time) is the reason why people hate feminists, and really I’m an equalist anyway” argument.
Because when you start acting like fat hate and rape jokes have a cultural impact, you’re just a crazy bitch now! And you know, feminists aren’t for equality. We just want to set up a matriarchy so that we can create a reverse rape culture and control men’s reproductive capacity by making it technically legal but practically impossible to have a vasectomy and also making it difficult and expensive to buy condoms. And of course, we want to pay them only $.70 to our dollar and then say it’s their fault anyway because they made the decision to have kids and go into a totally worthless profession — and that judgment of worthlessness has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that men are the ones doing the job. What else do we want, feminists? To get them to feel social pressure to take our last names and do a vast majority of the housework? Damn right we do! I would also like the social power to ridicule men when they wear revealing clothing but also ridicule them when they don’t, please.
Oops, I think I just let our secret plan out of the bag! Quick, everyone look busy and pretend like I was joking!
*headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*
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Yes, but happy running puppies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NRpTVUCZ9E
I hate that shit too. I think people who say that are feminists but just don’t have the ovaries to call themselves one for fear of being labeled a butch lesbian or whatever the stereotype is these days. It takes guts to call yourself a feminist these days and saying “I’m an equalist” is just cowardly.
Look at it this way: Feminism is cool now?–PROGRESS! Seriously, the 2005 edition concern troll would have omitted that part.
At this rate, pretty soon we’ll be getting paid eighty-two cents on the dollar! Change is gonna come, I can feel it. Yes we can!
(In all earnestness, if I had to moderate the Feministe queue I’d be well past headdesking and standing on the railroad tracks screaming “BRING IT.”)
Crap Cara! Now they know!
Sigh. Well, as long as the cat is out of the bag.
I’ve hidden behind a mask of anti-rape activism, but that’s just a smokescreen. It’s really my lifelong dream to make dozens of terrible sitcoms where schlumpy women (who can’t be expected to be kind, self-aware, or considerate… They’re just women after all) marry studly and saintly dudes who put up with all manner of bullshit from said schumps whilst cleaning the bathroom. Then I want the sitcoms peppered with commercials where totally average women spash on some perfume, only to be buzzed by a giant donut-shaped fighter jet, then mobbed by attractive men… And a few where men fret about how to make their family happy about rice.
Then I want to sit on my couch with my hand in my pants, thinking about how I deserve a man like that. I mean, I’m such a nice lady(TM).
Perhaps most importantly, I want men to wax their balls.
Ilyka, you just made me laugh my ass off. You too Ashley. Men waxing their balls is DEFINITELY the most important.
And sorry for the confusion, but “cool” was in more of a dismissive “yeah whatever” way. They wrote something that looked like cool but in the end came off more like “somewhat but barely tolerable.” Contrary to Jane’s take on it (an interesting one nonetheless), I honestly think it’s the new cloak that anti-feminist trolls/concern trolls like to wrap themselves in during their attempt to get a comment approved — like if they throw us that tiny bone at the beginning, the rest of their stupid misogynist crap which shows they didn’t read more than a sentence or two of the post is somehow going to elude us.
Hm. And here I always thought that “feminist” denoted a belief that the sexes should be equal… Stupid me. Well aren’t I embarassed for getting all peeved when people complain about feminism?
I think people who say that are feminists but just don’t have the ovaries to call themselves one for fear of being labeled a butch lesbian or whatever the stereotype is these days.
Yeah, seriously, if I hear one more so-called feminist start all “I mean, feminists aren’t like, hairy-legged lesbians!” I might have to take up kickboxing because some days the urge to punch someone in the face is that strong and I don’t want to get arrested, plus I have no upper body strength so I’d probably just hurt myself. (Realistically, probably what I should do if that happens is ask if they have a problem with either lesbians or hairy-legged women, which will either make them think about what they said or else make me aware that I never want to talk to them, ever again, so win-win, I guess).
In happier news, this post made me giggle. Thanks for that.
So would you like to link that Secret Feminist Plan with the Gay Agenda, where we destroy society with our evil debauchery and recruit kids in school to be pinko commie fags and eventually end human life by making everyone gay so no one can reproduce? I’m sure we could make could make the holdout straight guys put on pasties and dance for our sordid amusement (cause it’s empowering), and then shame them about it. I’m imagining hairy-legged lesbians whipping people into the Gay Indoctrination Building, where we’ll have perfected the Orientation-Swap Virus that turns straight people gay. BWAHAHAHA!!!!
…Seriously, for everyone that tells me “you take this too seriously/you think too much”, I have a *headdesk* moment.
I call these kinds of women colluders. By being anit feminist in this manner that are actively working with patriarchy to marginalize and exploit women. They actually bother me more than the hateful MRA’s. Just like every other movement patriarchy is dependent on women for maintenance and this women form the foundations of misogyny.
I mostly agree with you, Renee. But I’m more inclined to say “support beams” rather than “foundations.” When the people making these comments are women, once I’m done being angry I largely feel sorry for them. I also think that while a large majority of these types cannot be converted — again, they are often making such statements as an entryway to feminist-bashing — some can. MRAs are just not worth the time, but some of these types are. The issue is the subjectivity of reading between the lines and figuring out which ones they are.
And some people aren’t feminists because there isn’t enough focus in the feminist community on widespread inequality. You said it yourself… you’re only interested in that which you view as victimizing women. But, when the same things victimize everyone, you’re uninterested.
It’s all about focus.
. . . I said what now?
The discussion we had about advertising.
Uh, you mean the part where I said that while patriarchy hurts men too and discussions of masculinity will invariably come up, men are not the focus of discussion on a feminist blog? Because that’s not refusing to look at widespread inequality. That would be the case if I refused to look at race, class, disability and so on, which I definitely do not. Just like how I believe that civil rights organizations should have a strong interest in women’s rights, but I’m not going to get upset if they don’t spend all of their time focusing on ME, a white woman — in fact, I’d be appalled if I did.
So if people don’t like feminism because they want a movement that is equally about men as it is about women, you’re absolutely right that feminism would not be that movement. Brenna, your criticisms often seem to hinge on arguing that whatever topic comes up also affects men — and even if it’s true in that particular case, I have yet to see how it in any way invalidates my argument that said particular case is sexist against women. When sexism hurts men just as much as it hurts women — and I hope that it never does, for men’s sake — I will focus equally on them, and I hope that feminism will evolve into a new movement for the same purpose.
Brenna, your criticisms often seem to hinge on arguing that whatever topic comes up also affects men
You don’t read my comments very well.
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