Why are feminists so aggressive?

[BertrandRussell]

This, or something like it, it always being asked. People say that the FWR board on here is scary and hounds out people whose faces don't fit. That women are always being told they can't be feminists if.......And so on. And so on.

In my experiences, you are much more likely to get an aggressive response if you express a feminist point of view than the other way round. Is it just me? Or am I missing something?

There have been plenty of interesting feminists threads recently, where everyone seems to be holding their own- but the same old accusations keep coming up.

Agree, home made baked beans so pointless. Also no sausage and bean casserole recipe I ever tried came out nice.

My feeling about FWR is that it's a space better suited to those with an academic background in feminism.

Shit. Is it? Does my a level sociology count?

mrsmuddlepies the Mariella Frostrup thread was only 22 posts long and a number of us challenged the OP for suggesting that MF wasn't a feminist.
Ironically the OP probably wandered off thinking we were being aggressive feminists

Really?
Feminism is for all women. Not just those who have been to university.

I have to say I love baked feta! I don't think it's weird at all, nor is using it as a topping for a bean and tomato dish. Someone on the thread mentioned getting a takeaway from Papa Johns, which I like precisely because they have feta as a possible pizza topping, funnily enough. But obvs wouldn't necessarily feed feta to fussy kids.

I am just going to pop my head above the parapet and say I love the MN feminist boards. I post a lot but I also NC a lot.

The feminists here have totally changed my views on a great many things.

Yeah I often feel that way too but I'm still here putting my two pence in with no qualifications at all!

I liked baked feta too, much nicer than putting it in a salad.

Another unqualified feminist here too

I meant the MN FWR boards ( didn't it used to be called that on here?).

Also, what does FWR stand for

Feminism and women's rights.

Feminism is for all women. Not just those who have been to university.

Yes. No argument. But these boards feel better suited to those with doctorates.

(I have several degrees yet feel like a total idiot here often.)

If you express an unfeminist view the majority of feminists will completely fail to engage and just call you bigoted, stupid, conservative, trump loving etc. Feminism and feminist views are fairly well accepted. When was the last time you saw someone non-platformed for saying 'men and women are equal' or 'women should be able to attend university'?

Oh, should the feminists who are not well educated enough go off to some lower class place to discuss their inferior ideas? Somewhere that's better suited to their lower level of intellect?

I don't feel like an idiot, but I'm not in a position to fully reference every post; it's a definite disadvantage.

Feminism is for all women. Not just those who have been to university.

I'm aware of that. Top feministsplaining though

sea, no, that's not what I meant at all. I simply meant that unless you're totally focused, concentrating and able to articulate a cogent point precisely, you'll either feel out of depth or get shot down pretty quickly. But I guess you made that point for me.

I feel the same, especially on days when I cannot brain as I has the dumbs. It's harder to skim read this board. Still like it here though. I learn new things everyday.

titania, me too, I've learned a lot. Still rarely join in though.

I've not been on a fwr thread in forever. I got a bit bored with the fwr section.
It was fascinating at first but I quickly found it a bit repetitive. The main threads I was interested in were ones regarding equal pay. But there was very little traffic on those threads (barely got over 1 page must of the time).

To be fair I've not looked recently so could have missed some decent threads.

The main thing I really dislike is women being called handmaidens and cool wives.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm a man, I don't identify as a feminist I don't agree with everything I read here, but I've not felt attacked or aggressed upon in any way. Either for being a man or for my views.

I think one possible reason for that is I don't make an automatic assumption that when class analysis is going on it's about me personally. I would also prefer not to bottleneck a conversation with another namalt derail.

I've also shared a difficult personal experience where i received nothing but empathy and support from each and every poster who awknowledged it.

What I find interesting is how feminism gets conflated with every individual feminist. If one meets a rude bus driver we don't extrapolate all bus drivers are rude. Yet any feminist happens to be rude that charge is leveled against feminism as a whole (or these boards). Why is this?

My experience of being here is sure sometimes people are rude, but no more so than anywhere else, and no one "side" is any more or less likely to be rude than the other, but literally the slightest negative or frustrated comment from a radfem is pounced upon with glee as embelemtic of some massive trend.

Ok sometimes people are frustrated and having an off day, but being aggressive/rude has nothing to do with the truth value of what you are saying. What is more important to you: exploring interesting ideas to new places or policing people on tone? My philosophy is as long as you're not pointing a gun or a knife at me be as rude/aggressive as you bloody well like! I can work out for myself what level of anger I can handle on any given day, and engage/disengage as appropriate.

I'd much rather interact with people being authentic to what they think/feel. Things are much more easily dealt with out in the open.

"...aggressed upon". I had to look that up to see if it was a real phrase. Now I know it is, I'm totally stealing it.

(In a polite way, obvs.)

My experience of being here is sure sometimes people are rude, but no more so than anywhere else, and no one "side" is any more or less likely to be rude than the other, but literally the slightest negative or frustrated comment from a radfem is pounced upon with glee as embelemtic of some massive trend.

This.