Feminism for dummies

[Nigglenaggle]

Hi. I have never really read much about feminism, but I always thought, in its essence, it was about bringing equality for men and women. however reading threads in this section has lead me to believe in fact that is not the case. In fact I've come to wonder if that is even a large part of it. Please explain to me, in plain English, what feminism is. An overview of the different schools of thought within it would be welcome, however please stick to simple terms, for a simple girl

[scallopsrgreat]

Well if you were studying feminism then you'd know that feminism has never been about choice (until it has been marketed as such very recently). It has been about ending the oppression of women. Choice is a by product of that.

And so what if a few rad fems hate men? I mean really so what? Do they have society and culture backing them up in systematically oppressing men? Are they killing baby boys just because they are boys? Are they going out raping and killing men? Are they being violently abusive to them in relationships? Are they cutting their wages or sacking them for being men?

Now look at the first part of that paragraph and how many of those things are men doing to women and girls?

Or are these women calling them out on their bad behaviour? Not pandering to them or trying to please them? Maybe even laughing at them ? Or just simply avoiding them?

But thanks for explaining feminism to us. We appreciate it.

[YonicScrewdriver]

Radfems don't hate men, btw - i assume you haven't started your studies yet?

[YonicScrewdriver]

What a strange post to bump the thread with, Katie.

[katiejayne1987]

i am currently studying feminism. and i can assure you that every man and woman that believes in equality between the sexes is a feminist because that was the initial idea of the movement... EQUALITY!
however there are radical feminist that have taken it further into the man hating realm. just like any religion or subject you will always get those that misinterpret the meaning or just use it to justify there own actions.
Women still don't have the equality that they believe they do, they still don't get paid the same as men doing the same job, let alone the issues in the workplace regarding motherhood. women are seen as unreliable because they can get pregnant and need time off then once they are mothers they have to put their children first, so if they get sick etc, work have to let you leave. businesses don't like this.
feminism is a vast subject that goes as far as looking at; how can we be equal to men when in fact women will always be different from men, but honestly don't batter your head with it, it drives me crazy.
The point is its about men and women both having equal choices and opportunities in life and equal rights and pay.
Women and men can choice between career or home life, it should be fair and equal.

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

OMC, in your first post that cited the article about the rise, you quoted Abigail saying that violent women in relationships were rare, and you seemed to be using your various citations as a counterargument to this quote, saying her view was dated.

Perhaps I misunderstood.

[OneMoreChap]

TheDoctrineOfSnatch the issue is the rise in reports and convictions; we welcome it for rape; we should welcome it for other offences, neh?

[TeiTetua]

I've heard anecdotal claims that the rate of domestic violence is about the same among heterosexuals as it is in gay male couples and lesbian couples. If that were to be true, it would say that when two women are cooped up in a relationship, they're as likely to descend to violence as anyone--except that if it's "anyone" of differing genders, it's much more likely to be the man hurting the woman than vice versa. I don't know what to say about that. There are things that a man will do to a woman that a woman won't do to a man, and the same doesn't apply to two women or to two men?

[PortoDude]

Good blog POST that should say....

[PortoDude]

Good blog about the subject of male dv here

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

OMC that link and the link from it talks about 7% of convictions for DV being of women ie 4,000 out of 59,000.

[OneMoreChap]

Rise in women convicted or did we miss that?

[PortoDude]

It was OneMoreChap that posted the "stats" and I saw ncg at the bottom of the page and got the blokes mixed up.

[PortoDude]

Oh sorry NCG - indeed it was NOT you. I am very sorry.

[namechangeguy]

That was not me.

[PortoDude]

ncg - but you posted "statistics" re domestic violence with the aim of showing that WOMEN are guilty in large proportions too. The statistics might show that more men are subject to dv - but they don't show that it is women that are responsible.

[namechangeguy]

Very interested. Back in an hour or 2 though, when I'd like to discuss it more. TTFN.

[ashesgirl]

Of course, NCG. But feminism is about looking at overall trends rather than individual cases and challenging why they occur.

If 89% of violent offences are committed by men, wouldn't you be interested in what biological or social reasons are behind that? To examine and then try and change that?

(I believe I read that stat in an earlier link on there - pls correct me if I'm wrong)

[namechangeguy]

I could not possibly comment, as I did not ask the question. But the point about whether another man was responsible was raised in the case of a male sufferer, and yet women-on-women violence was not brought up. It seemed a little lop-sided.

My gut feel is that there is more male-perpetrated DV, but I don't have any stats on the matter. I just think it's all sad. If I was a victim, I don't think I would care whether my attacker was male or female. I would just want it to stop.

[ashesgirl]

And why that is.

[ashesgirl]

No one is condoning violence.

But we are asking questions about who is perpertrating it.

[ecclesvet]

Actually, that's an interesting point - are fights between house-mates counted as domestic violence?

[namechangeguy]

It shouldn't matter though. Violence is violence, and nobody should be subjected to it. Is it more acceptable if a women is attacked by her female partner, or a random woman in a club? Sometimes it seems like people want to out-victim each other. Nobody should have to accept being the victim of violence in any scenario, regardless of the gender of the perpetrator.

[PortoDude]

The statistics you mention do not go in to any detail as to who the perpetrator was. Was it another MAN perchance? - not every man lives with a woman. To what degree was the recorded violence due to retaliation/self preservation etc?

[PortoDude]

Oh OneMoreChap - bless you for trying. There are lots of informed pieces out there that explain those figures very well. How many men do you know that have had to flee their partners because they fear for themselves and their children? How many press reports do you read on the subject of women's violence against men? How often do you hear of cases where a man has accused a women of sexual assault?

Of course these things happen. No-one denies it. But these cases are hugely in the minority.