Feminism?

[Cale]

Not to mince words, but my statement was one of a general state of being. I was no more giving orders than you were me. My implication does certainly come off that way, so your input holds true. In the future I will not "give orders" to members of this board.

[skdadl]

Well, I'm glad we had that little chat.

Now, back to "suffering, pain, and abuse." Cale, I really think that few people here want to discuss their lives or their spirits or their politics in the overgeneral abstractions you're using. Just about all of us have certainly known some suffering and pain, and some of us have known some serious abuse. All of us have also had absolutely glorious times in our lives, and we often talk and write out of those.

In terms of abuse, I'm one of the lucky ones. In my life, I've faced abuse only in a public sense, in the open discrimination against me for the first 15-20 years of my working life, when it was legal for employers to pay me less just because I am a woman. Me, I think that was abuse, and it certainly has had life-long financial implications (think CPP), but there you go.

Others here have survived abuse of the much more serious private kind, and if I were you, I would walk lightly on that territory. Even so, those people wouldn't describe themselves as being all about pain and suffering, I don't think. People here are more about creation and activism, about making a better world.

It certainly is true, though, that you can't make a better world unless you are first honest about some of the things that are wrong with the way things are.

[Cale]

Well when I said commiserate, I mean complaining, which by the way isn't as bad as everyone seems to think it is.

Without complaints, problems don't get fixed.

Getting back to my original topic, I'm not here to start a shouting match. I really did expect your forum to be forthcoming and helpful and I was extremely disappointed to find this wasn't the case.

[Cale]

Perhaps I could ask you what you define as equality... or rather, how would you do things differently if you were in charge?

[skdadl]

"In charge"? Of what? I'm a serious believer in democracy. I don't wish to be in charge (although sometimes it's nice to have teh power on this wee discussion board). If I were "in charge," though, there'd be no one working for me who did not believe hard in the Charter.

What I wish for is a time when all human beings are able to recognize that everyone else is fully human. I think we're better that way than we were when I was young, but only slightly. It came as a great shock to me, when I was a young teenager, to realize that much of the world didn't consider me fully human, not in the way that my brothers were.

The good thing about that shock, though, was that it opened my eyes to the similar -- and usually much worse -- experiences of many other peoples. I have never regretted becoming intelligent.

[skdadl]

Ok, Cale. I'm also a li'l ole lady who needs to check out now for teh night, and I'm feeling that I can't exactly leave you loose on the board before one of us gets back, so I'm putting you on hold overnight.

Most members here go on immediate alert when a newbie appears only to make aggressive demands on us. As Antonia says, we're not your servants or your research assistants. So far, you're all takin' and no givin', as Dolly sang, and that really is not gonna work here.

Don't worry. I get up very early, and if I remember, I'll lift the suspension then.

[lagatta]

skdadl, one of my best friends is exactly your age, and if anyone called her a "little ole lady", the ageist creep would be on life support.

[skdadl]

Well, different senses of humour, perhaps. Long may your friend thrive.

[RP.]

I see now by the way he tried to get in a wrangle with you skdadl, classic troll behaviour. I'll admit it, I thought he mighta been a good little fella, the way some contentious people can be.  

Also I only wish I was in bed now.

[arborman]

Maybe I'll head on over to a conservative board somewhere and demand they explain the basic principles of conservatism to me.  I'll start by framing it as 'you are all such whiners about taxes and so bossy about what people do with their own selves, but I want you to explain why that is so.'

Then, when they get cranky, I will put on offended airs.  How could they be so rude?  It must be true that conservatives are a bunch of whinging mama's boys and a few self hating women.  Well, of all the nerve!  All I wanted was for them all to take several hours of their time explaining themselves to me, so I could nitpick and pretend like I gave a damn.

Or maybe I'll just go to bed.

[arborman]

Also, there is something quite beautiful in the phrase 'ad homonym attacks'.

It makes me strangely happy.

[skdadl]

That's a classic, isn't it?

[Debra]

Hi Everyone,

Hello Dr. Nick

I am a fairly conservative person, just going into college, and I notice that a lot of people in school like to talk about gender roles and feminism in general.

Imagine.

The majority of information I can find on the subject is grossly biased either one way or the other (as it seems you have to be right out the window to be heard nowadays), so I was wondering what you women and men had to offer on the subject.

People hanging out windows would surely be shouting just to be heard. Seems an odd way to discuss. Have you posted on the men's rights sites to see what their agenda says this year?

To be quite honest, I have had to write several papers on the effects of gender roles in our society, but I was only writing them in such a way as to get good marks from my teachers.

Good to know you are sticking to core conservative principals of saying any fucking thing to get ahead.


I understand that this sort of behaviour (asking about feminism) is generally frowned upon,
But just don't give a shit

but I wanted to be fair, it's easy to find a lot of feminist-bashing sites, as well as feminist sites that completely destroy any legitimate argument feminism has to its name.
I wanted to be fair by already stating that I feel any argument for feminism is flimsy and easily destroyed

MY key questions are:

What is feminism trying to achieve?

The end to stupid discussions such as this.

How would you define the success of feminist activities?

Well the last meeting of the local menstrual blood tasting was pretty successful. The annual bra burning brought the fire department but the castration in effigy of the entire male side of the human race was pretty successful. Amazing the imagery you can create with Tim Bits

How would feminism affect homosexual couples, seeing as feminism only addresses gender roles and not sex and sexuality?

Feminism not address sex!!!!?????????? Shit you really don't know shit from shinola do you?

[Croghan27]

WOW Debra ... remind me not to piss  you off ......

Was there not a thread here - or at least it was referred to here, titled something like 10 Things feminism Has Done For Me. I vaguely recall it about the time I first came to BnR.

[Debra]

5 things feminism has done for me