Feminism-different things to different people?

[Ella1980]

As the subject title!

I often wonder things like...

Can you be married to/in a relationship with a wealthy man and therefore not ever work but still be a feminist?

I was once married to a very wealthy man who turned out to be the most controlling man alive! He was horrified when I returned to my career after having children as he was offended by the fact that this would "challenge his male role of successful breadwinner".

I divorced him and made certain not to make the same mistake again! My fiance earns less than me on average. He doesn't define me by my gender and likewise and I love it ☺

Partially, although not sure even in just the two definitions given here they agree with the other completely.

@ColeHawlins Perhaps I'm non-judgmental and accept there is not always a black and white answer to everything 👍

I would imagine from the dictionary definition and the worthy academics definition you pretty much have it covered, but you can argue some.differences, but that's something you'll have to argue with someone else...have provided all I can

"Perhaps" you're just here to goad OP? 👍🏻

Well the question was "Feminism - different things to different people" and the answer seems to be "Yes". The next question is "Is it really feminism if...?"

The legislation about children remaining with their mothers was not signed off by women.

This part is incorrect though? There is no legislation as far as I am aware about children remaining with their mothers?

One word makes me angry - "Womxn"
.........
The word woman actually makes you angry.
Nah, I do t get it.

I love the word Woman. I am a woman and I'm proud. It's the replacement of the a with x to become "Womxn" that I hate, @smotheroffive. And with it the entire meaning of a sex, gender and femininity is erased and rewritten. An attempt to be inclusive to trans people and anybody else who "feels a bit womxn". It's become a really widespread replacement for the word woman in a certain "woke" part of the world I visited recently. Every time I read it I see that the word for me and my kind has become so "dangerous" that it can't even be written, like some kind of vile offensive swear word (which of course, are written and spoken freely).

“Maybe it's more about everybody being treated fairly? Is there a word for that?“
Yes, it’s called Equalism.
It’s very different to feminism, though. Feminism is about putting women front and centre. It’s about getting rid of the attitudes and structures that disadvantage women, and freeing women from all forms of oppression. It’s bit easy!

A belief (based on experience and/or analysis) that women in society are systematically disadvantaged and actively discriminated against because of their sex, combined with the commitment to challenge (through critique) and overthrow (through activism) the conditions that legitimate such discrimination, as well as the discrimination itself (Kemp, s & Squires, J (eds). Feminisms, series: Oxford Readers (Oxford OUP, 1997)

Yes, I agree that’s it. Bunbury school of feminism, I believe.

*not easy.

I think 'feminism' is too easy to subvert. people like our disingenuous OP can be just not sure what it means. and when Jane 'eggshell skulls' Faye is getting billed as a feminist.....

I prefer to talk about women's rights and liberation these days. a bit old fashioned but i like it and it's much less ambiguous

Perhaps if you knew my story you'd think differently? The fact that a man who abused me horrifically for ten years got equal shared custody of our small children and continues to control me is seen as legally acceptable is wrong IMO. So yes, it does make me a little angry the part about assuming children get to stay with mothers or however it's worded.

Might be "picky picky" to some but it's certainly screwed up my life!!

I’m old enough to remember when we stopped talking about Women’s Lib because the term had become so discredited. Fuck me, it’s depressing.

I’m old enough to remember when we stopped talking about Women’s Lib because the term had become so discredited

interesting

how had it become discredited? was it association with the Milly Tant stereotype, or something else?

It was almost exactly the same as today. Constant undermining by the media, by men and by a depressing number of women. All the usual “you want to put women over men” “women like the way their lives are””strident” “unfemininine” “bra burning”” taking women’s choices away”.......Very depressing.

And the Milly Tant trope did not help at all! Neither did the sudden appearance of lesbianism. Which of course hadn’t existed before.......

Ella1980 Yes there are lots of different types of feminism. Think BernardblacksWineIceLolly’s approach of talking about women’s rights is clearer and fits in with wider definition of human rights. Financial independence was important in the days when women didn’t have access to bank accounts etc. However, the idea that that is the only way to be feminist ignores the contribution played by women who don’t do paid work.

“BernardblacksWineIceLolly’s approach of talking about women’s rights is clearer and fits in with wider definition of human rights”
Do we want to do that? I don’t want women’s rights to be subsumed into general human rights.
And while I share concerns about the marginalisation of women who do not actively earn money, I think that feminism should be addressing that issue, and encouraging women in that position to realise how vulnerable they are and do wgtever they can to protect themselves.

Feminism is about putting women first. Questioning whether something us good for ALL women, not just the individual.

Putting women first is hard to do and feels all kinds of wrong at first.

But when it finally happens you feel your centre of gravity shift and the world us never the same. You might catch gravity frequently trying to drift back to putting men first and being nice, then you have to stop & pull it back to women again.

It can be tiring & frustrating.

I don’t want women’s rights to be subsumed into general human rights.
Nor me BertrandRussell just very conscious of the success that Rosa Freedman has had in using human rights as a framework for women’s sex-based rights and the way that hate crime currently excludes misogynistic hate.

@BertrandRussell
How can women protect themselves from men taking financial advantage? I was married and still lost everything 😡

“How can women protect themselves from men taking financial advantage?”
It’s bloody tough. That’s why we need feminism....

Well if feminism aims to protect us from financial abuse then I'm strongly in favour of that. Marriage certainly doesn't! Well, not in my case at any rate.