Really proud of my 17 year old daughter

[NicholasTeakozy]

She posted a staus on Facebook which read:-

Seen a few status' tonight that have kind of annoyed me. I don't consider myself a feminist, but with issues like this I am. Why are women's bodies over-sexualised all the time? Why can men walk around with their tops off showing off their bodies but it isn't socially acceptable for a woman to do so? Why are women deemed "disgusting" or "sluts" if they do exactly what a man does? Why is there such a taboo on our bodies but men can prance about however the fuck they wish? Nah, fuck that. Ladies, do what you like with your body (within reason). Fuck all you patriarchal cunts.

Cue two of her male friends who argued that women who dress in skimpy clothing are more likely to be harassed and sexually assaulted to which she replied it's the rapists' fault, not the women. Over the course of an hour she tore all their arguments apart and made them look stupid. She really brought a smile to my face and made me swell with pride to see such passion and anger in one so young.

I most certainly wouldn't be proud of my 17 year old if they used language like that.

Just saying.

Really? I would be (bloody) delighted I had raised an active, thinking challenging and bold young woman.

"Women have extra private parts on their chests". Who classified breasts as "extra private parts"?

'Extra private parts'? - tee hee

Arf at "extra private parts".

Men have nipples too, you know. Yet it's only women's that have become overly sexualised.

Why are women's breasts extra private as compared to men's breasts?

I classified breasts as extra private parts. Mine are certainly private, aren't yours?

Men have willies and bums.
Women have fanjos, bums AND breasts. One extra, compared to men.

Yes, both sexes ave nipples, but women have whole boobs behind their nipples.

I haven't understood any explanations yet!

Boobs are only private by social convention - in plenty of countries the culture doesn't seem them as significantly different to mens breasts.

Men with boobs aren't made to cover up, women with small boobs aren't allowed them out - it's not the boobs that is the issue, it's whether the chest is attached to a man or a woman, hence it's sexist.

When I was a small child, I would happily parade around naked. As I grew up, I didn't want to display my breasts/bum/fanjo. That's what makes them private. Why would anyone want (for eg) to go to a swimming pool and show their boobs to everyone?

Whattya mean, women have to keep their boobs covered? Open the front page of the Sun, and there will be a pair proving you wrong.

Agreed, Tei. Women should be free to air their boobs. In the pub, on the beach, in the paper...perhaps its just a British hang-up.

One of the arguments DD used was that the primary function of the female breast is not for men to ogle, they're for feeding infants.

Extra private parts? Righto. :o

Why wouldn't they? Swimming naked is quite nice actually. I wander around the house naked, would sleep naked if I wouldn't be attacked for a feed etc. I've swum and hung around topless on beaches abroad and no-one has batted an eyelid.

Again, the only reason we cover up is that it is the only socially acceptable way to do it in this particular society.

In other societies you would have felt under no pressure at all to cover up various bits - be they bottom or top end. For instance, thong bikinis in Brazil are common place, but would make many British women feel exposed. Or as a Malay in Malaysia you would feel that your whole body and head is private and not understand why the Chinese girls are fine about wandering around in short-shorts and a vest.

I think that's what sets women's chests apart from men's - men's chests are little different from their backs. But women's are, like you pointed out, they are a whole "organ" because they feed infants and function. So they are extremely different from men's.

You might argue that the primary function of a willy is to wee. So why then, if your dd's argument for breasts being out is their functionality, can men not walk down the street with their willies out? Seeing as their primary function is to wee, not be ogled. Obviously they wouldn't actually be weeing whilst walking down the street.

Women are different from men. I am not sure why some people don't accept this. Women have babies because they have a uterus in their abdomen. Men don't. An average man is bigger and stronger than an average woman etc. that's why sports are generally divided. You don't see men v women in 100m Olympics! Plenty of other things can be equally done by men/women but that doesn't change the fact that there are significant differences.

Men can lactate, men can grow breasts
Some women can't lactate (and most of the time we're not lactating), and may have chests that are also very different from their backs

We're not saying that if you're lactating, or if you have breasts bigger than an A cup you should cover them, or if they're small/not lactating you can walk around bare chested we're basing it purely on your sex.

Women do have biological differences, but biological attributes do not determine what you have to cover! If that were the case then perhaps it would be sensible for women to cover their breasts, and men their penises, and the rest could hang out. After all, there's really nothing to see on a woman's frontage - to borrow a turn of phrase, a woman's front is little different from her back (hairyness aside) so what does it matter showing it?

It's worse than that of course, because apparently not only do I have to keep my breasts covered, I also have to keep them 'under control' apparently it's scandalous for a woman to not wear a bra - yet mens bits can jiggle all they like.

Because its social convention. And at least that ones relatively equal, it's deemed acceptable for neither men nor women to wang their genitals about.

I fail to see anything about women's boobs that makes them naturally more private, it's only the restrictions society places on them, irrespective of differences or not.

Correction:
Some women can't lactate (and most of the time we're not lactating), and may have chests that are also very similar to their backs

You are proud of her foul mouth fb rant?

You'd dismiss her entire sentiment on the basis of 3 words that you don't like?

Good stuff NT.

the sooner people stop thinking of breasts as 'private parts' the happier I'll be. Having just stopped breastfeeding after 5 pretty much continuous years I'm fairly certain that life would have been easier without other people projecting their 'keep em private' hangups onto me.

I don't think anyone has dismissed her entire sentiment?
It's great that she is challenging social perceptions etc etc, but the dysphemistic language detracts from the point she is making.

I wouldn't dismiss her, but being foul-mouthed certainly detracts from what she wants to say. Swearing is for when there's "actual fire or actual blood". In my humble opinion.

Then again, if the definition of "private parts" is being questioned, maybe using "cunt" is part of the statement.

Chunky, the top line of your most recent post says "men can lactate" and you use this to argue equality of breasts. Male lactation is an anomaly, often caused by medication. Female lactation is normal/expected after having a baby. I don't understand why you don't see the difference. If feminists think that male and female breasts are the same, it is not surprising that many women cannot identify with feminists.

To me, feminism ought to be about treating women and men equally where there is no difference between the sexes. Eg: a man doing the exact same job as a woman with both determined to be performing equally well - they should be paid the same. Women are still underpaid relative to their male counterparts and I think time would be better spent addressing this than having silly pedantic academic arguments trying to make out that women's breasts are the same as men's when the average toddler can see that they are not.