to totally fail to understand why Sexism is never seen as bad as racism??

[chemicalsister]

Following on from the Saudi Olympics thread, I keep getting upset about Sexism thriving in the modern world when racism is quite correctly - seen by the fast majority as clearly wrong and abhorent.
Even educated professionals have wound me up recently asserting we sholud adapt schools, especially first few years of infants , to better suit boys and their poorer attention span,
AND poor boys now do less well at exams at 16 so we must reduce course work etc..
I am old and remember when boys did better than girls at 16-- There was no outrage and plans to change exams then! It was just seen as inevitable ..... Fume!

This is why I have often used the "OK, replace 'women' with 'black people' in that sentence and see what you make of it" strategy with white middle-class liberals who make sexist statements. They have internalised sexism in a way they have not racism

Yes, try the "Two women a week are murdered by their domestic partner or ex-partner" with "Two black men..."

The racial equivalent of this gendercide of women being murdered through abusive partners or ex-partners would (and has) cause riots. But if it's just women ...

I'm sorry, I really don't give a toss what anyone says or what argument they put forward. If you are Mother Teresa, and your focus is on only one half of society, and you vehemently refuse to even consider the problems of the other half, then you display a serious lack of humanity, really you do.

I don't care about the reasoning behind it. I don't care if more women suffer sexism than men. Men suffer from sexism, regardless of what feminist theory (theory, not fact) says about it. I fail to understand how it is right to sneer 'oh, more whattaboutthemenz', and dismiss the experience of another human being purely because they have a dick.

Nobody is denying men suffer problems too. Feminism though is about women.

'Feminism though is about women.'

Which is why I can't support it, or agree with it. I just can't block out half of society. That half including my sons, my husband etc. It's simply unthinkable and just does not compute AFAIC. I know so many men who have had such shit lives.

It is simply the same as those campaigning for disabled people, concentrating on disabled people. Or those who spend their life fighting for the rights of children, focussing on children. It is not saying no one else matters or has a hard time.

Feminism seems to be the only political movement that gets criticised for focussing on the group it is there to help - girls and women.

In connection with the mention of Marissa Alexander earlier in the thread, she has been granted a new trial by the appellate court.

I found this article interesting and it explains the gentle/benevolent sexism issue far better than I ever could.

And as a matter of fact I think that for some men who try to cross the boundaries women can be very sexist sadly just think about every male nursery nurse and the reaction to them.

Perhaps though if we open women's minds to what subtle sexism is then we may fix the opposite problem?

Back to the op I think they should be reviled equally yes but your examples do you no credit.

'Feminism seems to be the only political movement that gets criticised for focussing on the group it is there to help - girls and women.'

It focuses on helping women by demonising men and maintaining that ALL women are helpless victims of men. I think that this might go some way to explaining why it faces the criticism it does.

sigmund you can't believe that? Not all feminists demonise men!

Feminist theory does. Patriarchy is the theory that ALL men conspire to oppress women, that ALL men work together to keep women from having equal status. Doesn't sound too pro-men does it?

DontPanicMrMannering

sigmund you can't believe that? Not all feminists demonise men!

I imagine this is half the problem (in terms of it being a political movement) - there is no consistency or agreed agenda, there are as many definitions of Feminism as there are Feminists.

The Feminists who get most of the attention (and thus influence the perceptions of those who know a minimal amount about feminism) and the ones shouting the hate rhetoric the loudest - it makes for better headlines. It undermines some of the positive potential.

wmittens ha ha ha right back at you - perhaps you'd care to explain that to my three former colleauges, who were sexually assaulted by the same man at a company function, yet were threatened and bullied when one of them was brave enough to make an official complaint, and eventually pushed out of the company? He left too, but with a fat pay-off and lucrative freelance contract. And this in an apparently reputable right-on organisation with national standing - a recognisable household name. Not some small company that doesn't understand its legal obligations.

I understand patriarchy in a similar way to kim. It 's an acknowledgent that our society is set up in ways that benefit men. To get on on this society women mostly have to adopt the behaviours of men.

It is not thhe active conspiracy which sigmund describes, but it is no less harmful to women by being insidious

Well that's just it Kim. It's whatever you want it to be really. There are so many different versions. The version I gave is the gist of the general radfem version. Whichever version is used, men are the oppressors, which is not pro-men, at all.

Am I kept in my place? No. Do I feel compelled to conform? No.

Careful, Partridge. wouldn't want to see you banned...

I'm not a feminist because I hate men. I'm a feminist because I believe that the fact I live in my own house, which I have the right to own, and that I can work in an interesting and reasonably well paid job, that I didn't have to get up when I got married, are rights that were won for me by previous generations of women. Men didn't hand these rights over.

Reported you Partridge. Fed up with the poor treatment of me due to not toeing your feminist party line. If someone disagrees with your ideology, it does not make them a troll or male. Saying so reveals far more about you than it does me.

I have a daughter and a son. I want them both to have the same opportunities in life.

I am bringing my daughter up to be a strong interdependent women, I have never had this.

I don't know how to parent her, She is 4 and he bedroom is a feminist worse nightmare. Pink her toys are pink and everything is the 3 P's Pink, Ponies and princesses. Her favourite films are about princes coming to the rescue ect.

I worry that by getting her things that she loves it is sending her the wrong message.

Incidentally Partridge, there are a good many female MRAs, you know, real women that disagree with feminist theory. I wouldn't expect you to be aware of that, living in your apparent bubble.

GiveItYourBestFucker

are rights that were won for me by previous generations of women.

We're not speaking German because of the sacrifice of millions of men and women and I'm very grateful to them, it didn't make me want to join the Forces though.

(I know it's flippant, couldn't resist, sorry.)

Come on MNHQ, I was soo careful. Still let me try again

sgmund appears on threads about feminism spouting made up stuff about feminism and feminist. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to understand that MN is a website mostly frequented by intelligent women who don't live in a cave and have at least a basic knowledge of feminism and politics. .

she has similar views to the average MRA.