What is feminism.

[PiperIsOrange]

i know this sounds an odd thing to ask.

I'm a 28 year old women to ask, but my 16 year old niece ask me this question and I really didn't know what to say.

I get confused between feminism, equal rights and sexism.

Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism Might be a good starting point?

Feminism is the radical idea that women are people.

Or, my personal favourite: I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is, I only know that people call me a feminist when I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.

someone on here (i forget who, sorry), used to ask questions similar to:

• do you think that women have equal rights to men?
• if not, do you think something should be done about it?

if your answers are "no" and "yes" respectively, then you are a feminist

perhaps that should have been "do you think that women have equal rights and opportunities"

Women and men can't have equal rights. For example if a man was to take sick leave it would go on a sick record, but if a women with HG was off sick then rightly so it wouldn't be classed as sick iygwim.

HG = hyperemesis gravidarum? Do men get this regularly?

i like the second flow chart in this article (aimed at men fwiw).

Hopefully not, couldn't cope.

Liberation of women from male oppression.

Women and men can't have equal rights. For example if a man was to take sick leave it would go on a sick record, but if a women with HG was off sick then rightly so it wouldn't be classed as sick iygwim.

I don't understand this.

Sure, men don't get HG. But they have the right to leave when they are incapacitated for medical reasons, don't they? Likewise, a woman who can't have children has the right to that leave. It's perfectly equal. You're (I think) conflating the right to have that leave, with the form the cause for needing it took. There's no need.

Btw, is HG leave not sickness leave? Purely an ignorant question - I'd assumed it would be medical leave of some form or other.

Anyway.

I prefer 'women's liberation' to 'feminism' when I'm being pedantic. It sounds very 70s but is easier to understand. Women need to be freed from the constraints placed on us by society.

'Equal rights' I'd understand as a general term, not always to do with women and men, but also applying to race and sexual orientation and so on. It just means you shouldn't be an arse for the sake of it, surely?

Sexism is discrimination based on sex. It is often (wrongly) conflated with misogyny, which IMO refers to a more structural form of discrimination against women, based on the (irrational) bias against women that is encoded in society. Sexism is to misogyny as racism is to white supremacy. So, you can find sexist women and racist people of colour. But, 'black supremacy' as a movement would be largely powerless, while 'white supremacy' is and has been hugely powerful, because it's able to exploit pre-existing biases in society. In the same way, misogyny is a form of oppression much more powerful than 'mere' sexism.

i do agree about women's liberation as a term that best conveys

It's definitely women's liberation for me and has been since the early 70s. We have made great strides in some areas; rights are more equal certainly. But the older I get the more I see that many of our advances are basically window dressing on top of a system of power that has actually changed little, and that in many ways, we have gone backward.

"Women and men can't have equal rights. For example if a man was to take sick leave it would go on a sick record, but if a women with HG was off sick then rightly so it wouldn't be classed as sick iygwim.

I don't understand this."

Jeanne - I think what the OP is referring to is that, whilst HG would be sickness leave, a woman can't be subject to disciplinary measures/dismissal for incapacity even if she were off for the full 9 months. Any illness related to pregnancy is sick leave, but it can't be subject to absence management.

I think, OP, pregnancy related issues are a bit of a red herring when it comes to 'equal rights' since the physical experience of pregnancy has no comparator in male lives.

I had HG in both pregnancies, because it's a medical condition in relation to pregnancy which I believe it would be sexist to discriminate against a women.

absolutely it would be. women shouldn't be disadvantaged because of the fact that their biology requires more of them than it does men in the continuation of the human race

Men can't get pregnant therefore don't have to endure pregnancy related problems. To fire women for pregnancy related sickness would be sexist because it isn't their choice that they are the only ones that can carry the baby that they are impregnated with because of a man. A man can still have a baby without risking pregnancy and it's possible to complications, women can't.
Any other sickness at any other time is treated equally. It is completely fair to not fire pregnant women if they have pregnancy complications because men don't have to be pregnant.

Of course it would be discrimination Piper. Equality doesn't mean sacking women for too much sick leave when it's pregnancy related. That was my point about pregnancy having no male comparator.

Feminism is diverse and views vary between people. You have liberal feminists, conservative feminists, radical feminists and extremist feminists to name but a few. Overall, it is concerned with promoting women's rights for equality. However, 'equality' or the definition of is also a diverse terms, with it also meaning different things to different people. As such, feminism is made up of many different sub groups - groups that may or may not agree with one another's version.

For instance, one group may believe female sex workers to be liberated. They are exercising their right of choice, they are 'liberating' their bodies and taking ownership of them and so the trade should be legalised. On the other side of the coin, another stream of feminism will see sex workers as objectifying women and that sex workers are largely victims of exploitation and that legislation should be tightened.

This is why it is difficult to describe feminism in a nutshell. I guess the best thing to do is read up about it a bit and offer up your own version to anyone that wants to know.

It's women's liberation from oppression and patriarchy.

"Feminism is also an excuse to bash men/boys/male babies at every opportunity"

What a load of crap.

It's alright penguins, it's another charmer.