First of all:
Feminism is a set of ideas and social movements that aim to secure political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,
with particular focus on addressing the historically unequal treatment and status of women.
Equality is the goal. Feminism is not about superiority of women over men, or vice-versa; (E.g.: racism)
it’s about removing legal and social barriers so that gender does not determine rights, opportunities, or status.
Women are the focus because inequality has typically disadvantaged them. But many forms of feminism also recognize that rigid gender roles harm everyone.
One cannot choose one's gender. That is simply a fact. Therefore:
It is unfair and wrong that:
opportunities,
treatment,
salary,
rights,
and safety, depend on it.
Women have been, and continue to be systematically, institutionally, and historically abused, and this abuse is normalized.
"systematically":
The system, as in, the status quo, the whole combination of government and its agencies, extended belief systems (religion and whatnot)
and the mere "that's how it is" is blatantly abusive and unfair towards women. Examples of this include but are not limited to:
The healthcare/medical system; women's reproductive health is criminally understudied. This causes cases of women having medical issues being:
- misdiagnosed (and even worse, it's played off and shoved under the rug when the woman figures out the patology by her own means)
- mistreated (as in bad/improper treatment, and treated badly or unkindly by staff)
(this gets to the point that I don't know the name of any disease exclusive to the female reproductive system other than endometriosis, and I don't even know what that is exactly.
and I'll leave this here for authenticity sake.)
The main "systematically" part of this is that this is perpetuated by, valga la redundancia, the system. It does not (at least not practically) stop, apparently
regardless of how much advocacy and activism is done. The probelem resides in the system itself - and society's collective psyche.
Part of it is also the status quo (the "how it is") of the perception of the broader society of women, especially in comparison to men:
- Why is a man who has sex with lots of women a playa, but a woman who sleeps with lots of men is a whore/low-value/attention-seeker?
(You can't answer it without acknowledging women's unfair perception and its implications; or being a bigot/sexist or otherwise an idiot)
- Why are women paid less than men for the same job? (yes it's true, look it up)
- Why are women fetishized? (E.g.: Women in the goth subculture (stop calling every single one "Goth mommy" it's fucking weird))
"institutionally":
Relevant institutions, namely: schools, police forces, hospitals and similars, etc; all consitently and unfairly:
- treat women like they're dumber, don't know anything, and are too emotional. (this I'll address later) This is frustrating and emotionally draining.
- disregard women's agency (commonly due to the aforementioned reasons: usually, the staff (school directives, police officers, doctors) unfairly assume
that women are either dumb, clueless or what they're saying is too emotinally driven. (even if they do this unintentionally or without malice - still applies))
This can cause women to be wronged (i.e.: assaulted; lack of justice served; etc), for instance a police case where a woman's testimony isn't taken
seriously; or more disgustingly, a case where a doctor gives a woman a husband's stitch
without her wanting to (or with only the husband's consent, which is the same; disgustingly sexist and twisted) after she's given birth. (this is more common than you think it is)
"historically":
For ages, women have been abused/mistreated/belittled as I explain in this post.
This is undeniable. You know how you instantly and casually assume that anyone who is conservative (or in media, when you see any type of conservative culture,
or any culture at all from the past such as old egypt (or good ol america not that long ago!) is also a sexist? (and bigot, sometimes also uneducated) Well,
99% of the time, you are correct.
and before you say "the past is past": while that's true, (as in, not plainly wrong) it's missing the point. Stuff (in this case, the abuse and mistreatment of women) that
that has been historically present in a society tends to be perpetuated. (Especially when it touches topics as important as identity and sex/gender!)
This is a core part of the issue.
"the abuse is normalized":
This ties back into "systematically" and "historically". Very self-explanatory. It's part of the "that's just how it is" so
it's considered normal - therefore it is perpetuated.
Now, the following are admittedly more subjective/personal asseverations/beliefs, I maintain them without a doubt nonetheless.
I believe in freedom, as in liberty. Within reason, of course; but it should apply to everyone, regardless of who they are.
Freedom should apply to everyone, but its limit is other people's freedom. For example, Islam: You are free to be muslim, whether anyone else likes it or not;
but you are not (should not be) free to forcibly impose that on other people, because it's damaging them.
(Example with Islam: implies sexism, homophobia, etc. This is why I don't support "spreading the gospel" as a lot of religious people say;
while I also respect religious people, even though they may reciprocate)
[[[LIFE, ETC]]]
This is very personal (as in: intricate to my person and my beliefs/principles) therefore it's subjective; nonetheless:
I believe that if you're a man and you
which you shouldn't to do anyone, not just women)
not because but something very important: MUST DEFEND/PROTECT WOMEN
(I must clarify: This a personal value.)
My opinion on abortion is twofold:
First component:
I think it's a tragic and (usually) traumatic experience and decision to make because it's undeniably ending the child's life before it begins. It's undeniable
that this a loss of life (of the child) however I do not think that this justifies calling abortion "inhumane murder". Protecting
an unborn child over a living, suffering, conscious person is actually inhumane.
Second component:
The first component is irrelevant when actually deciding, because: as a man (AMAB, if I was a transgender woman this would also apply) I do not (and will never)
have women's
(or anyone otherwise AFAB, e.g.: transgender men) reproductive capability (i.e. having a uterus -> able to get pregnant) therefore I will never (am physically
unable to) go through the potentially traumatic experience of (first, being pregnant, and then) having to take the decision to get an abortion (and then go
through with it) meaning I will never truly understand the experience. For that reason, I (and anyone not AFAB) should not get a
a say in this matter.
Re: "women who get abortions are [insert misogynistic offensive term here]" and "abortion is wrong because having children is your duty as a woman":
NO. Just no.
This is so painfully cli
My opinion on abortion: TL;DR: I'm a man -> I do not get a say. Although it is tragic and potentially traumatic as a decision and an experience -> therefore it's not a mere positive,
this is why I support "choice" and not simply "abortion"
The "women are too emotional" trope is commonly used by misogynistic people as an argument,
more often than not based solely on: subjective or biased information/experiences/conclusions, or outright stereotypes.
So, I will proceed refute:
Re: "Women are too emotional"
While women and men are different in countless respects, they are both the same thing, if not fully (two people can't be the same). They're the same species.
As a man, I'm able to understand and respect people who are different to me, (in gender (sex and gender or lack thereof), sexuality, religion or lack thereof,
opinions in general, etc) and am also able to understand myself - therefore I do not blindly assume that I am 'proper' or without flaw;
which is what most men who say "not all men" tend to do (even if subconsciously, or consciously but without malice)
Essentially, when men say "women are too emotional" they are merely recognizing that women are emotional creatures, and they also are,
but fail to make that association, and so they do the typical thing someone who, whether due to lack of education, intelligence, empathy, or combination of the above;
isn't self-critical or clever enough does: "[I am person A. I recognize X in person B. $X Applies to every person of B's group, but not me!]"
(and then proceed to get offended when you point this out, likely because of the same reasons they do it in the first place)
The "not all men" claim is often used by (mostly) men when (attempting to) refute a woman who says something negative about men
(commonly involving misogyny, bigotry or assault) often without taking into account nuance or context. So I will proceed to refute:
Re: "Not all men"
Barring the rare/isolated cases where this phrase is used correctly and rightfully, you'll know that most if not all cases where men reply/comment with "not all men"
to an individual (typically a woman) who points out something negative about men, or shares a negative experience that was caused by a man; the aforementioned men are
not taking into accout the nuance of whatever experience or repeated negative trait the woman is disclosing, instead, immaturely jumping to the conclusion that they are simply
"talking shit" about men for no real reason.
Of course, oftentimes, they simply assume that the woman is talking about men in general when they aren't (whether because of lack of attention, reading comprehension, empathy,
intelligence, education, or any combination of the above) which is why "not all men" is even more painfully out of place in these cases.
Why I'm a feminist: TL;DR:
- I support women. (their agency (as anyone's) should be respected, and I recognize that it oftentimes is not)
- I think sexism is wrong.
- I recognize that women have been (and continue to be) systematically, institutionally, and historically abused, and this abuse is normalized.
- I belive that everyone should be equally treated and respected by everyone else.
Other subjects/issues I've not gone in depth but are also important:
- Strict morality/public-decency laws used mainly against women,
- Unequal divorce and custody rules,
- Barriers to reporting domestic violence or sexual assault
Personal note:
I feel I should make clear that while I support feminism, I do not support extremism, of anything really. So, do not assume that since I support feminism I just assume that women
are right, and men are creepy bad people, just like some women
assume that 'all men are bad' (which ends up causing all the "not all men" shit, and everyone assumes what's popular, and it turns into snowballing of bullshit and unintelligence.
quite dissapointing) and jump to "men suck" "men are awful" "I hate men". (That is just as wrong, and sadly incredibly common)
Thank you for reading.
You may want to see:
Sexism
Feminism
Abortion