Are there any forms of consensual behavior that would 'disqualify' someone from being a feminist?

[willkeaveney62417]

Are there any forms of consensual behavior that would 'disqualify' someone from being a feminist?

Nope SillyOPTypePerson. No consensual behaviour precludes any woman from being a feminist.

Cos being a feminist is all about being a woman who knows she is equal to a man. Any woman who thinks she is less than a man does so cos of the patriarchy. Innit?!

I am totally down with the kids.

Ignoring the dubious motives of the OP, there is a distinction between the things a woman chooses to do with herself and things which she does to other women.

Participating willingly in the oppression of other women is anti-feminist. Participating in activities which others much consider unbecoming of a feminist is open to debate. And is a difficult area to unpick given that it is often hard to establish someone's motivation for an choice of course of action (even if you are that individual).

What is the mechanism for barring a feminist? (And would barring a feminist in fact disqualify you from being a feminist necessitating the burning of one's on dungarees)

And I love it when someone parachutes into MM with an @ in hand. Kinda gives the game away.

One's own dungarees even.

@chopper Asking the OP what he thinks is inappropriate. My aim is to provide a vehicle for discussion among others. The question is broad and unambiguous. If feminists cannot come up with some kind of working model of behavior and continue to individualize themselves to the point that everyone is doing something totally different all the while equally empowering, then the patriarchy will continue to massage feminists achievements while solemnly look down upon everyone for the yet another century.

And a word of caution to anything claiming to have read any dense material. Until your opinion on the subject becomes as effortless as a flowing spring, you have not fully absorbed the text, so your volume should not exceed your input. Continue to keep it casual, otherwise reread. I'm responsible for giving you much more to work with.

@mink Which activities would you or a prominent feminist faction, or anyone else, consider unbecoming?

edit: anyone claiming im not responsible for giving you much more to work with

A woman who works to actively reduce the rights of other women.
There are some politicians who call themselves feminist but then attempt to change the law to reduce women's rights. For example nadine dorries calls herself a feminist but campaigns and has put forward proposals to reduce the the legal abortion limit. So less women can access abortion.
However I believe her claims of feminism are a political tactic and she is very much the opposite.

Don't be silly, it's not inappropriate at all. Mumsnet has been providing a vehicle for discussion for years without your help.

"My aim is to provide a vehicle for discussion among others. "

Err, what did you think a talk board was and how do you imagine all the other threads are managing without you patronising them?

That's patronising in the sense of being a patron, of course...

I am a feminist. I may iron my husbands shirts, bake cakes have taken his name and even occasionally where things I know he will fancy me in... But I do this because I want to and if I didn't want to- beleave I wouldnt.

Oh what did MN and FWR do without you will? We were just floundering around having debates with posters that engaged in their threads not knowing or developing our own minds or opinions until you came along.

Thank you for showing us little wimmin where we are going wrong. Clearly not engaging in the discussion, give nothing of yourself, be exceedingly patronising and demanding of people who don't actually have to give you the time of day, and telling us all where we are going wrong is the way to hone opinions and arguments. Who knew? After all none of us have ever been to university, use negotiating skills, debating skills or form arguments in our daily lives. We just wouldn't know what to do. We are so grateful for you being here giving us this vehicle. MN just hasn't been able to do that so far. It's only been around 15 years and is run by women. What can you expect?

Idiot

Asking the OP what he thinks is inappropriate.

will, I think you may have misunderstood what the point of a message board is.

And though you don't like abbreviations - ODFOD.

Thank God for a MAN turning up and telling us what we should be doing.

I'm not a massive fan of 'X isn't a real feminist' type baiting, which like so much is aimed at setting women against each other rather than actually making anything better, but I agree with the poster above that restricting other women's rights and opportunities is hard to reconcile with feminism.

I'm a bit at the OP to be honest

I can't even type much without being rude

Why do people do this? Do they mean to be so rude? (Going to go with yes)

And why is it only on this board?

Shit I really should have RTFT before answering.
What a misogynist you are op.

Maybe OP if you were to describe the parameters of the subjects you wish the performing monkies women to discuss for your pleasure and edification, then we'd have a better idea of which direction you wish us to take it. Thanks.

Or....DWLLWGAF?

O, rhaid i fi ymarfer fy Nghmrhaeg. Syniad da.
(Oh, I must practise my Welsh. Good idea.)

Sag mal, Alter, geht's noch? Bist du wirklich der Meinung, irgendeine von uns ist dir irgendeine Erklärung der Hintergründe ihrer politischen Positition schuldig oder hast du wieder mal Farbverdünner aus der Flasche gesoffen?
(don't speak Welsh, but would still like to contribute.)
OP, I have tried to be polite and I have tried to be helpful but you are obviously just an arrogant little shit with too much time on his hands.
And really? A set of rules governing all behaviour for all feminists, no matter what their political, social and economic circumstances? No sweetie, that's fascism, not feminism, wrong f-word.

Buffy, facilitate?

Basically, if I read it right, the argument is that feminism will get nowhere until all its proponents agree what it should include and what its collective views are on each item. Only when we can agree exactly what it is we all want will we be able to go forward and make it happen. Well, that should keep the little women effectively off the streets for another millennium or so.

What a good thing the entire rest of civilisation didn't wait for consensus before trying to achieve anything at all.

Women are not a homogeneous group. It is self evident to me that a Feminist in rural South East India has a different agenda and priorities to a feminist in western Europe (for example).

There is a combination of complex social/ economic and ethnic influences that needs to be accounted for feminism is not meaningful without context, in my opinion. So I identify as a socialist first and a feminist second.

The above is to give context to my answer as op seems rather pedantic. I believe that there is no definitive way to answer the question posed in the op as there is too much context required in analysing an action/ choice made by a self-identified feminist that may seem 'anti-feminist' at first glance. If I am a SAHM and I do all the cooking - that may be because I am a surrendered wife who thinks her DH is the king of the house etc. or maybe I am living in a town to far away from readily available work, unable to drive and with children with SEN that make childcare choices more complex... I may make a decision consensually with my partner to do things and our choices are constrained by our personalities/ where we live and what our economic status/ level of education is... The male partner may well be as constrained by these issues as the female but it may be expressed differently.

Feminism should be a tool to analyse the relationships between genders on our planet - not a weapon to judge or belittle choices and it should be a positive force celebrating and empowering - which does not need consensus just recognition of different needs.