What is a feminist?

@StandFirm I've also been told that I was working like a man. In my case it was because I wasn't taking on the invisible administrative tasks that make a project run more smoothly but don't get any credit. It was also meant as a compliment!

A colleague told me in one of my jobs that I was (quote) 'working like a man'. I thought that was an extremely depressing statement because a) it was meant as a compliment, which meant that what 'a man' does was still held in their minds as the quality benchmark and b) I was working crazy stupid hours that no employee should be expected to do, man or woman. So 'working like a man' was perpetuating basic exploitation...

Why? How do you think they’ll be achieved?

How do you achieve the things in @Tygertiger 's list without dismantling the patriarchy?

I'm not convinced that they ever will be achieved but we have to keep fighting for them, and we will get ever closer. The one thing we must never stop fighting for is single sex spaces because this is the one thing the patriarchy needs us to give up in order to stop us from organising to assess how close we are to achieving the rest, and is the top tactic to make sure that any advances are temporary and limited.

Attaining those things means dismantling the patriarchy.

Welcome to the team. 👍

Women's Liberation may have started in the 1970 and was far broader than your discription as it was based on local consciousness raising so that women's engagement on issues came from building networks of shared experiences and goals. This would vary depending on whether the group was formed based on locality, or race or whatever.

And through having a network of small groups each being active there was no issue of central control, or the need for a "leader" to tell anyone what to say or think.

That's why it was a movement.

The reason it didn't continue, and women's liberation got watered down to individualistic feminism, was the massive male back lash against it. Not forgetting third wave feminism that was always so cross that women older than them had achived anything, that they put a huge amount of energy into undermining.

And wasa far broader based movement than FWR which thanks to MNHQ splitting it, is increasingly a single issue forum.

So again buying into the miss messaging from MSM seems to be part of your problem.

And again you miss the point that a broad based non hierarchal movement based on action, had more impact on women's lives. Because by having the structure of small groups, each women felt equal to being part.

Because women were actively engaged in their community or area of special interest.

The main reason why a grassroots activist movement couldn't happen now is that for most whether you call it Women's Liberation or feminist, is now just a virtual engagement.

Just to add again, WLM was far broader as it contained, radical feminists, socialist feminists, lesbian separatist, support groups for mothers, campaign groups, arts groups, and much more. Networks for Women's Liberationist working is common areas of work, whether teaching or whatever, thereby creating a based from which to agitate for change in their area of work.

Seriously, you comments are so strange, I would be really interested to know where you get your misconceptions from.

I always find it hilarious when people say there's a natural division of labour; women have the babies and men make civilisation. Men say they are needed to protect women and children and to build civilisation; but they don't think about women's needs or safety (see the example of the footbridge posted by DustyWindowsills on page 1). They just don't see women as human. They have to be forced to include us.
They claim women can't use machinery or tools because they are made for people of their size and strength. It doesn't occur to them that if women build machinery and tools we'd build them to fit us.
They talk about women 'having babies' as if we just lie down and push one out like animals, but are entirely ignorant about the process of teaching language and social skills to them. And what else is civilisation, but the passing on of knowledge and resources to the next generation?

That presumes that how men behave, their values and ways of doing things are correct.

Although is fairness this I why I dont call myself a "feminist" the idea that my aim should be to fit in a male defined world is loathsome.

But quite happy to be called a women's liberationist.

You probably are; everyone's a feminist these days 😂

That definition sounds reasonable, but doesn't cover the whole picture. So yes, sure, part of feminism is believing that women should have the same right to vote, to go to university, to be admitted to the same occupations as men, to have the same pay as men do.

But it ignores other important elements of feminism - the fact that women get pregnant and give birth, and may need extra protections, such as maternity leave, or guarantees of financial security because they often give up work to bring up children and become dependent on a male wage-earner.

Also the fact that women are open to sexual exploitation by men through prostitution and rape, and are often on the receiving end of male violence from family members, husbands and strangers. That is a massive issue that isn't covered by the words "have the same rights and opportunities as men". Look at the grooming gangs scandal: thousands of young girls subjected to horrific rape, torture and sometimes even murder by adult men, yet often not believed, and often prosecuted themselves for prostitution offences.

The biggest challenge for feminism is freeing women from male violence.

The OED definition of Feminism is "having or based on the belief that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men."

The Cambridge and Merriam-Webster have almost identical definitions too. My understanding concurs with them. Feminism is a belief that women should have equal rights with men socially, politically, legally and financially. Feminist movements are (or should be) aimed at furthering this.

Feminism is the belief in fairness and equality for female people as measured against the opportunities, rights and treatment afforded to male people.

Egalitarianism is the belief in fairness and equality for all. Which is lovely, but it has generally been found that the less focussed a campaign is, the less effective it is in producing meaningful outcomes.

Feminists have found it more effective to focus on the rights of female people only. That includes female people of all races and gender identities, but doesn’t include male people who think they are female, or prefer to wear women’s clothes, or take female hormones or have plastic surgery to appear more female.

Here’s a simple easy to remember definition.
**
A feminist is a person who believes in equal social, economic, and political rights for women.

As a young woman I used to think this was the description of a normal person (ie. Someone who thinks women and men should be treated equally) ). I’m older now, and sadly, it’s the definition of ‘a feminist’.

A feminist is someone who believes in the liberation of women.

feminist movement to have us working like men

The feminist movement, was never about this.

This is what MSM ie man have been telling you.

This is because men wont change.

Feminism isn't about women becoming a copy of men.

Why women haven't achieved equality is because men wont change.

The Demands of the Women’s Liberation Movement
Women have the Right to a Self Defined Sexuality and:

1. Equal Pay
2. Equal Educational and Job Opportunities
3. Free Contraception and Abortion on Demand
4. Free 24-hour Nurseries
5. Legal and Financial Independence for All Women
6. An End to Discrimination Against Lesbians.
7. Freedom for all women from intimidation by the threat or use of violence or sexual coercion regardless of marital status; and an end to the laws, assumptions and institutions which perpetuate male dominance and aggression to women.

First of all you are not going to find the answer in a book!

Nobody own's feminism or has copyright on it.

It will be down to you.

Do you feel you are disadvantage by being a woman in whatever part of society you live in?

If yes, and you think it is unfair that you are, then you are a feminist.

But as mentioned up thread it is far more complicated than that, because having recognised that what would make the world (men) change so you did not experience disadvantage?

It could be said that "feminism" it accepting the world as men have made it, but that somehow allowances should be made to that women can function equally in that world.

Or if you believe in women's liberation than you dont aspire to be like men, but know that men as a sex class oppress women as a sex class so that in fighting for women's rights you are also attacking or wanting men to lose their privilege.

And this is without even getting onto the basic problem for women that is male violence.

Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them. Margaret Atwood.

This illustrates the profound difference for women living in a male dominated world.

I always read posts like this waiting to discover that they’re not being put here in good faith, and you haven’t disappointed me. You did well at the beginning with the wide eyed ‘oh please help me to understand if I’m a feminist’, and then you couldn’t help yourself, you have people’s attention and you introduce the nonsense that the oppression of women is nothing to do with misogyny or the patriarchy, and that feminism has been detrimental to women. In short, women are responsible for their own oppression, why can’t we just follow the natural order of things and stick to having babies. You didn’t even bother to be original, how boringly predictable and pathetic.

I suspect the explanation of the difference is that there was no point in chucking women out of jobs that a man wouldn't want to do.

OP, can I ask you why you decided to name yourself after a man who was responsible for millions of deaths through forced labor camps, mass executions and man-made famines? I think that period of soviet Russia is also something you should educate yourself on.