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Edited by SolanGoose: 5/31/2014 5:43:09 AM
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Feminism, Equalism, and the Patriarchy.

Too often I have heard self-proclaimed feminists say this: "Feminism is an ideology that advocates equal rights between men and women". Interestingly enough, if you search up the term, you will find conflicting definitions. You will find either the definition recited above, or the following: "Feminism is a doctrine or movement advocating equal rights for women". If you did not notice, those are two very different definitions. The former definition sounds more neutral in terms of what gender has "more" rights, while the latter assumes the position that women are in a position of lesser value or have fewer rights. If we travel back in time to when most academics claim that the feminist movement was born, the 1960's, the motto for feminists at the time was much closer to the latter definition given here. At that time, they believed women were subjugated and men had more power. There are several different kinds of feminism today. From extremist feminism to postmodern feminism. Extremist feminists self-admittedly believe that women have been put into a lesser position and need to fight for their equality. In short, the original feminists from the 1960's would have been extremist feminists. On the other hand, postmodern feminists today strongly stick to the former definition and the belief that both men and women suffer and that society needs to create equality between the two genders wherever possible. However, there is a logical error here. The term feminism must have a root. All things with the word feminism in it must be related to each other in at least one, single, constant way. That is simply how terminology works. When I research all of these different feminist movements, I can only find one consistency: Patriarchy theory. Patriarchy refers, in the simplest definition possible, to a society dominated by men. All feminist movements are based off of the idea that men have dominated society throughout history and women have been subjugated, and that women need to fight for their rights. Now when you consider postmodern feminism into this equation, it doesn't add up does it? One cannot advocate for equal rights between men and women (including the idea that men suffer too) but at the same time believe men are in control. If postmodern feminists fight for the rights of both men and women, why would they believe in a patriarchy? If both genders suffer, how could they still possibly believe in patriarchy theory? Patriarchy theory would be totally irrelevant if men (who supposedly are in control) limit and harm themselves. In a way it is sexist because it assumes that men were the original creators of "limitations" and that the male sex is historically to blame for a society full of social norms and constructionism. If we look at women historically, or women in less educated countries today, they too have sexist beliefs. But according to feminists, these women are victims of the patriarchy. They are uneducated and have been controlled by the patriarchy (a society controlled by men). Is this not a bias? As soon as postmodern feminists say that male gender roles are "also caused by the patriarchy", you know they have completely forgotten the meaning of the word "patriarchy" and do not see the sexist bias inherent in patriarchy theory. If you research equalism, egalitarianism, and humanism, you will find that these ideologies truly fight for equality between men and women without making the baseless, sexist claim that men dominate and women are subjugated (patriarchy theory). Instead, these ideologies admit that the differences between the way men and women have been treated in society cannot be objectively measured. It is not "obvious" that women are more mistreated that men or that men have had more power than women. We could sit here all night firing off examples about how one gender is mistreated, but none of it would be objective and our scorecards would be limited by our imaginations. A problem is taken more seriously by one individual than it is for another. These "subjugations" are completely subjective and relative. My point is that: a) Patriarchy theory is sexist and false. b) Postmodern feminists are making logical contradictions about their beliefs and how they label themselves. c) If you call yourself a postmodern feminist, you are actually a sexist extremist feminist, or you are a confused equalist who should seriously consider my words. Thanks for reading.

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  • Last feminism post got shut down so I will say it again here. Feminism is a movement created to destroy happy families!!!!!

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    • Am I the only person who read every word of that?

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      • *opens thread* *sees wall of text and looks up* Damn... How high up does that go???

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        • I'm not even going to comment on the subject. I'll just say that your thoughts were so neat and organized and it's a break from the broken grammar that litters these forums.

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        • You've assumed that of the patriarchy exists, it can't possibly hurt men, which is patently false.

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        • [i]It doesn't actually matter [/i]

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        • Is this offtopic in a nutshell?

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        • Is it cool and edgy to be angry at women now?

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          • There is still patriarchy's all over the world. Those places need feminist just like 1960's America did. Send the feminist over there.

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          • Ye boi

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          • Gonna leave this here

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            • I couldn't be bothered reading all that shit but I'm just gonna say my life is proof that feminists are about domination not equality

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            • The funny thing is that there must be a logical origin for the male "dominance" over females, over thousands of years men and women have functioned differently, each having different extremely important roles, men and women are not the same, so why should our experiences in life be the same? It'd be like using a Jaguar instead of a Land Rover when off-roading, both are equally as good, but not in the same way

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              • Sweet post, OP. I just see no place for movements concerning one sex in civilised Western society today. Egalitarianism/equalism is what you really want so that issues regarding both genders can be addressed.

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              • simple solution: just be a humanist.

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              • Women belong in the house, being the caretaker of the home

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              • Equalism...men and women both have things that society needs in order to function...(other than genitellia)

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              • Edited by Madman Mordo: 5/31/2014 9:13:10 AM
                Agreed. All I hear from feminists is “patriarchy”. Male power. Male privilege. Male influence. Male authority. Which males? Which men have this power and authority and privilege and influence? Is it black men, hispanic men, white men from poor backgrounds, all of whom are disproportionately incarcerated and denied educations that reflect their talents and requirements? Is it homeless men? Homosexual men? Transgender men? Middle-class men struggling to hang on to houses with mortgages that will never be paid? Is it the vast majority of men? I don’t see feminism attempting to answer any of these questions, other than to spout buzzwords like “patriarchy” and "r*pe culture", as if it suddenly proves something. I find it highly ironic that the feminist vitriol of victim-blaming does not extend to men. Patriarchy = the rule of men = problems for men too = it’s your fault, since you’re a man. This is a laughably inadequate explanation. The real problem for both men and women alike is that there is an increasingly powerful upper class in our society that is brutally exploiting and profiting from the labour of the lower class majority. It’s far more comfortable for us to blame something as baseless and unsubstantiated as “patriarchy” when the reality is that the rich, both men and women alike, are the real problem. While it's true that there are crusty old rich men shitting all over the rest of the population, does any sane person really believe rich women are going to be any different, or going to give more of a shit about the struggles of their gender or anyone else who is substantially less privileged than they are for that matter?

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                • Ugh.....to lazy to read. Need short version.

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                  • Edited by Failure4Life: 5/31/2014 10:25:28 AM
                    [quote]If we travel back in time to when most academics claim that the feminist movement was born, the 1960's, the motto for feminists at the time was much closer to the latter definition given here. At that time, they believed women were subjugated and men had more power.[/quote] Feminism has existed since the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848... And that's just in America.

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                    • Never try to argue with a feminist, you will never win because they can just claim all your facts are fabricated by "muh patriarchy". Then they start going on to blame you as you are male, even saying your transfemale doesn't work:they just bleet its because you want to exploit women which makes no sense.

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                    • Edited by A Traffic Cone: 5/31/2014 8:18:47 AM
                      Can I just throw it out there that for as long as people consider women to be more fragile, weaker, and less reliable than men we will never be equal. Come the day I can call a woman a bitch and punch her and not suffer the consequences is the day we are equal. That may sound quite drastic, but you are not equal if you feel the need to have special protection. It makes you seem weaker and less powerful, yet you complain over lack of dominance. I completely support the need for men and women to be treated fairly, but the steps we are taking are not in the right direction and will only continue to make things worse with time.

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                    • Nice post. I don't try to rationalize the irrational. I completely respect the goal of sane-minded feminism, I can't begin to comprehend or really even be bothered to comprehend what pseudo-feminists really want. What I really care about is that they're a person, I'm a person, and that's that. Having gender pride is one thing, drawing a line between genders while asking for that line to be erased is insanity.

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                    • Oh noes! U have been Brainwashed by the Strait White Partiarchiluminazis' evil videogames that are against Same-sex breeding. You must Check your privilege before its to late. #adhomynim #same-sexBreeding #Patriarchiluminazi #privilege #BiGenderqueer #AniaSarkeesian #FatShaming #ableist #NaturalDuplicity #socialJustice #FreeTrayvon

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                      • meh.

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                        OP is a sexist.

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