How can I reconnect with feminism?

What happened to you induction hob Smashed? Sorry, have to ask

I suppose most of these terms come into being because they do a useful job at the time.

I do find it all very complicated but am not a student of feminism, just a feminist.

I loved "The Beauty Myth" too! It really formed my take on feminism when I was at uni.

I find it really hard to advise the OP- not because I'm being belligerent or putting her down for not knowing her stuff, but because we all have different "hot button" topics within feminism that really get us fired up It's like trying to suggest what sort of books people should read without knowing what they like - it totally depends what's important to you. I would suggest hanging around the board, dipping in and out of a few threads and seeing what suggests itself? Good luck.

OP I think you've had a bit of a hard time. Persevere, as people here will help you figure things out.

Keep reading and keep your eyes open in the real world as a PP said. Talk to much older women about their life experiences.

FWIW, my teenage gateway drug to feminism was 'The Beauty Myth' by Naomi Wolf.

Can someone summarise "everyday feminism" for me?

I think the problem is too much theory, to many blogs, too many buzz words and memes. Feminism is just common sense for women.
It's a no brainer. We (and by we I mean all women across the world) are still oppressed, belittled, murdered, dis-beleived, paid less, mutilated and humiliated to varying degrees.
I do find that the emphasis on cat calling and sexual harassment in ; Yes, I used to have men yelling stuff at me on the street, yes it wasn't nice, but now i'm older it doesn't feel like the main issue for me, and obviously, for young feminists it is more of an issue, so everyone has a different perspective on which aspects of feminism are important to them, but it does all matter. It's all part and parcel of thousands of years of being treated as less-than. And being treated this way, because it's so ingrained, can feel like the norm sometimes.

There's still a lot of us second wavers around, Whereyouleftit. And there appear to be some young feminists who are becoming second wave after finding the male-centred bollocks of so-called third wave deadening. I feel for young women faced with Everyday Feminism. No wonder so few of them identify as feminists.

Thing is, Everyday Feminism would never use the word "sexism". It isn't a concept they recognise.

Thank you for starting this thread Chemicalromance. I am an old gimmer , born in the sixties so reaching adulthood in the eighties - I guess that would make me a second wave feminist? Anyhow, the feminism I grew up with and thought could only go from strength to strength doesn't seem to exist any more; well not amongst the young . So I am thankful for this thread, pointing me in the right direction so that I might get a handle on where the hell we all are now. Thanks again.

I agree with what Amy says too. I have been raped twice, once here and once in Europe. I have been stalked on the Tube. I have been subject to lesser sexually assaults or experienced street harassment more times than I can remember.

I know that my experience is all too common in what OP seems to see as the safety of the UK and in Europe. Rape culture is endemic in any society where women are valued for their fuckability, and seen as objects to be penetrated and bought.

I agree with Amy's posts a lot here.

OP I don't know if you can fully embrace feminism without accepting that rape culture is a huge problem in Britain today.

I was once pinned down naked on a bed whilst a man forced me to give oral sex whilst his friends looked on and laughed.

All of those men would be considered nice normal men - some are fathers of daughters. This didn't happen in a war torn country, or one ruled under misogyny relating to religion. It happened in Britain. It happens every day. And whilst it happens we have memes about rape, jokes made, and women (like me) made to feel that it was their own fault, or that they wanted it really.

Mostly, the above incident is why I am a feminist. I want to live in a world where men would step in and save a woman in my position, rather than standing and laughing. I want to live in a world where girls like me aren't afraid to tell.

I have many more stories like mine but not mine to share. Its not an isolated experience, it's a huge problem.

so have been lambasted

I think I might have come closer to lambasting OP and I am sorry about that. I just have a pet peeve about people making sweeping statements about how much better off women are in the UK.

Also everyday feminism is not radical it's bloody nonsense.

Or a culture where it's acceptable to have sex with women who don't want to have sex with you in any orifice for a couple of quid or take work mates to strip clubs to watch women who don't want to take their clothes off do so

I don't understand how you can live in a culture where 1/4 women is raped and hen frequently blamed for and not see rape as inherent to the culture? It's like saying curry isn't pet of British culture because they eat it more in the rest of the world.

Oh don't be silly. She hasn't been lambasted. She made some statements which are factually wrong. She asked for resources and people gave them to her. I am still not entirely clear what else she is looking for- but if I can help I certainly will.

Chemicalromance you came on here to have a discussion and perhaps change your mind and engage with views you may be unfamiliar with.
You have possibly misused a specific term and so have been lambasted and your academic credentials questioned.

That is why many people avoid FWR which is a shame.

Sorry to hear of the offputting university experience OP.

I hope some of the leads on here prove useful.

Sub to Jollylads gaming

"And another thing, a lot of the hard won gains of feminism are being eroded as we speak"

Not just being eroded-being voluntarily given up.

"Clogs to clogs in three generations"

And another thing, a lot of the hard won gains of feminism are being eroded as we speak.

I once had occasion to do an indepth of study of Irish women in the 20th Century and found that women were treated with more respect in the 1910s than they received in the 1950s.

I care little for feminist definitions. I want a world free of gender terms. Male/Female. Father/Mother. Brother/sister must go

I have a dream

But as we discovered in the other thread, you're all about wanting to be able to abuse women, and not willing to try out what you want them to experience at all - so really, you're all about the difference between men and women.

OP if you have been knee deep in writing about the extreme misogyny and complete failure to support women in other countries, both culturally and legislatively, it's not surprising that you take a lesser view of a man spreading his legs on a bus. It is, however all part and parcel of the same picture.

You will often find two threads running simultaneously on the feminist boards, one about a woman who is infuriated that her bank insists on addressing correspondence to husband, and another about raising the profile of FGM. People can get upset over both these things, whilst at the same time fully realising that one has a far greater impact on the individual than the other.

Feminism is about the rights of women to be considered equal to men. Inequality shows up in all manner of ways. It's still inequality.

Fair enough. I just can't imagine writing a dissertation on rape culture and gendered violence without referring to feminist thinking.

The trouble with young uns today is that they think everything happens online.
OP, you are overthinking it. Look around you.
Feminism is needed because we earn less than men for the same jobs (still)
Because usually women's careers take the hit almost exclusively when couples have children.
Because court cases still examine a rape victims sexual history, as if that had anything to do with being raped.
Because FGM is rife in the UK, and still no one has ever been prosecuted.
Because women still do the majority of housework in families, despite working fulltime.
and on and on..
Men like to say things like "why cant we just all be eequuuaal! Why can't it just be huumaan riiigghhts??"
Well, when we are all considered equal in society, we can dispense with feminism. We are not there yet by a long shot.
And, feminists come from all walks of life, of all races, and levels of income.