Is the Future Female?

[SleepingStandingUp]

Looking at the International Women's merchant in our local supermarket, all emblazoned with THE FUTURE IS FEMALE and wondering what message that would send my sons and nephews or my mainly male Beavers?

Does it not matter cos they'll just grow into men and therefore their male privilege overwrites their feelings?

Is it better this way, that they know most women would prefer them to become obsolete?
Or is it just lazy marketing and I'm not the only one who wouldn't touch something that pushes for a lack of equality the other way?

Yabu- the future IS female
Yanbu- the future should be equality

I just went back to copy and paste the post and realised it said IMD, my apologies.

Well I don't think we should be promoting that as an ideal society, no. No more than we should continue to allow women to be overlooked in favour of men

No more than we should continue to allow women to be overlooked in favour of men

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ...

Your sons will be fine. One day a year and the odd slogan once in a while will not make them forget everything society tells them on a daily basis and will not hold them back or keep them being promoted and the many other problems females face. Just like Spice Girls and girl power hasn't held any men back. Girls do need reinforcement sometimes, when society hints to them daily that they're just not as good at things as boys are, the odd slogan or campaign here and there can be good for them to see.

And @Intransigentcat the equivalent I have heard is "chicks over dicks" the other one of "brother from another mother" also has the equivalent "sister from another mister"

I don’t think I ever read “the future is female” in that way, I think I just saw it as a positive slogan to encourage and empower women and girls. Much like the “girl power” Spice Girls slogan I loved as a kid in the 90s.
I once bought DD a lovely tshirt from a small business, who sent an A5 print of “the future is female” as a thank you for my purchase. I liked it and have it framed on DD’s wall, amongst other lovely pictures and photos. DS has never once walked past it and said anything about it. Hopefully I haven’t caused him serious long term damage.

As others have posted up thread please, if you believe in women's rights, consider signing the petition linked on this thread

www.mumsnet.com/talk/petitions_noticeboard/4722618-petition-to-update-the-equality-act-thread-2?page=38&reply=124420751

It's really important.

Women's rights are currently under thread due to a lack of clarity in the Equality Act, the debate requested in this petition is so important.

The future is girls being told sexism is a thing of the past while being manipulated into buying a pile of crap, and feeling super powerful in their late teens and early twenties as men constantly seem their approval and attention, then realising in their thirties and forties just how much being female has impacted their lives and limited their opportunities.

Just like it always has been.

I suspect a more accurate but less popular slogan would be something like “The future is global warming and mass migration from equatorial countries accompanied by wars in Europe.”

No more than we should continue to allow women to be overlooked in favour of men

if you had girls you would know that the future is male and males will do everything and run everything all the time for ever and ever is already what they get since the day they are born.

so you will have to forgive the hollow laughter that your sons will be in any way inconvenienced by any incremental gains women and girls will ever make.

This.

Honestly, it's quite laughable that you are worried about your sons' male privilege being threatened by a slogan on a cup supporting girls' rights.

Women have been fighting for their rights and equality since the dawn of time. I'm sure you are aware that throughout history, women have rallied, protested, went on strike, chained themselves to gates, caused uproars, lit fires, refused to wear oppressive clothing, been bludgeoned to death, stoned to death, suffered horrific domestic and sexual abuse, been forced unwillingly into marriage and motherhood, had their education taken away, had their jobs taken away and so much more.

It's still happening today, it will be happening for decades to come.

You and your sons have nothing to worry about.

Let women and girls have their little bit of positivity.

😭

I'm not sure if you meant to reply to me or the post quoted, although neither mention painting men as inferior to empower women, so I'm not sure where that came from anyway.

I hope so. I'd like my sons to be able to mix and meet women who are their equal in every way- earning potential, relationship skills, opportunities and family focus.

I'd also like them to be able to walk down the street without unintentionally scaring a woman walking alone.

I may have terrified them about women in my determination they not expect women to be their support pets.

If the future is female, someone will see what lovely lads they are and make the first move!

Really think for just a minute what would happen if the men decided collectively that they were tired of women having even a semblance of equality. I’m talking about in a place like the uk. Do you really honestly believe that women would stand a chance of keeping what we have managed to achieve?

I think we might manage to fight for a bit. I do mean literally fight, with whatever weapons we could get ahold of. We could rebel and plunge the country into war,
but ultimately we would lose. If it comes down to a battle of brute strength, we can not win. This isn’t a movie where the tiny cute girl, inexplicably has the upper body strength to take down the bad guys.

our rights only exist as long as men find it convenient for us to have rights.

but go ahead and complain about a shirt or a coffee mug

'You're suggesting I should give up custody of my nieces because I don't like FEMALES ARE THE FUTURE?
I mean I don't actually have custody of them' @SleepingStandingUp

Give up custody of my nieces, How DARE you!
Actually I don't have custody...

These comments really are getting bizarre. No, by all means definitely don't give up custody of children you don't have custody of! That's what feminists want you to do not to do to do. They're sneaky that way. That's how they plan to destroy all of menz with their slogans on cheap tat, and their giving up of things that aren't a thing.

Really think for just a minute what would happen if the men decided collectively that they were tired of women having even a semblance of equality. I’m talking about in a place like the uk. Do you really honestly believe that women would stand a chance of keeping what we have managed to achieve?

If you look online you can see pictures of young women in Kabul in the 70s and young women in Kabul now. And you see how quickly that all went tits up for them

So i will continue to focus on empowering women and girls, and I'll leave the boys to their own devices (having said that I'm not buying tat unless that tat comes from a women's collective in a developing nation and they are being given good money for it)

I think that seeing one tiny message in support of women against the enormous backdrop of messages about their own male superiority will not have an impact.

I think situations like this can be interesting to reflect on, how we all have a bit in our brain that looks at the issue of gender inequality and wants to prioritise the feelings of men. We all grew up as part of a misogynistic society. But good to try to catch and question these sorts of thoughts where we can.

if the tat said 'the Future is male' it'd be far more accurate.

I'm just a sycophant at the alter of penis for thinking putting one over the other isn't equity or equality

This phrase alone tells me that you don't understand the difference between equality and equity.

Come off it love.
Men have had it all their own way since day dot. If they can't have a woman in their face what's wrong with them?!
My dear old mum was a died in the wool feminist, used to write letters to get golf clubs to let in women members etc. She'd be furious if she thought the future was anything but female.

The future is female, men can get over it.

I would say it's extremely wishful thinking with no basis in reality or fact.

Women's rights have taken a huge backward step over around the last decade. Misogyny is as rife as it's ever been; either that, or it's never been simmering too far under the surface. 2-3 women a week are murdered by men we know. The word 'woman' itself is becoming a dirty word. Women who speak out about the injustices we face are bombarded with rape and death threats online. Men who hate women are finding validation for their ugly beliefs from other men on the manosphere, and sometimes they take it offline to manifest in extremely sinister ways.

Oddly enough, I don't think men as a group as going to suffer in the slightest from this small proclamation of hope in the face of all these enormous disadvantages of being female.

The picture is also fairly depressing. 'The Future is Female', as long as it's pink and his glitter on it.

I despair.

That image is very powerful and very sobering.

We already have women & girls in this country who are opting out of public places because we are losing 'single sex' spaces.

We are already having girls protesting at school because they have lost female only toilets, have we really got to the point that a girl who is on her period doesn't feel comfortable to go to school?

We have males in women's sporting competitions.

Male rapists in women's prisons.

Males taking positions reserved for women at the head of a woman's rape crisis centre.

Women's rights are going backwards.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/petitions_noticeboard/4722618-petition-to-update-the-equality-act-thread-2?page=39&reply=124423869

I’m on the fence op, I think on the whole it’s a good thing, but I wouldn’t be comfortable with ‘the future is male’ as a slogan, so I’m not sure the reverse is acceptable either.

The problem is, though, that the future is male. Everything in society functions for the benefit and interest of males. Always has and always will.

Males aren't the ones being oppressed.

It's not the same as Males are the future or the future is males at all. Because the present time is male!

Also, what if the future is female? To the benefit of everyone. Not to the exclusion of men. But that women get to have the seat at the table and drive decision making just as much as men do or, god forbid, a little bit more. I truly think that in many ways the world would be a better place for it.

I wish we could "like" posts 👏