[Persiflager]

All I have to say to Girl Power is.... down with (unnecessary) Capitalisation!

[girltrouble]

uh.... you need to watch "Mr. Mom."

[Girl Power]

If many of us women were not stuck at home raising a family the human race would become extint.

[girltrouble]

uh.... yeah. you do know that gender is a social construction, right?

you kinda contradicted yourself a lotta bit there. if women conformed to gender roles, then they would still be stuck at home. after all that is a feminine gender role. surely you've heard the old saw, a woman's place is in the....

it's confinement in those roles that have held women back....

[auralpoison]

*head meet desk*

This joke isn't funny anymore. It was entertaining at first, but now? All I'd get out of fucking with this is a headache I don't need. Seriously. WTF? Stick a fork in it already.

[Girl Power]

I believe males and females having distinctive roles doesn't lead to gender typing because it is so easy to see males and females as a majority have many different traits.

[auralpoison]

I gotta say, I am with GT on this. What exactly are these "separate distinctive roles", who defines them & how?

[girltrouble]

ok, i'll bite...

yes, but with women and men having "distinctive roles" doesn't that just lead to gender typing, gender reinforcement, and a return, ultimately, gender roles? how is if feminist to say women must be one way only?

[Girl Power]

Feminists are women who support equal status with men within a woman and mans separate distinctive roles.

[stargazer]

Girl Power, you might want to search through the thread since a lot of Busties have been talking about the different defintions of a feminist and how this definition impacts their lives.

What is your definition of a feminist and how to you see this impacting the current world of equal rights?

You might get more bees with honey if you take the lead in this discussion. A broad, open ended question usually doesn't attract posters. Just thought I would help you.

[Girl Power]

Thanks to auralposion for helping me find this thread. Here is my question below.

What is the True Definition of Feminist and how it Relates to our Struggle for Equality?

[auralpoison]

*bump* for Girl Power

[Persiflager]

Reviving an old thread as this looks like the most appropriate place...

I really like this column by David Mitchell, particularly his scorn of our obsession with the appearance of politician's wives.

[geekchickknits]

Cross posted in the "Suffragettes" thread

Interesting article by Camile Paglia on Palin. Calls her a feminist and has good supporting arguments.

[Christine Nectar...]

thanks <3drums. after reading your entry, i have realized though and am forced to admit: sometimes i like using the word "feminist" precisely because of it's presumed connotations.
am i selling out the cause by knowingly doing so?
i think it's just an easy way to be a shit-disturber.

[<3drums]

hmmm... i agree Christine Nectarine, i think its a shame when people don't want to stand up and be proud of believing in equal rights! But it's all just a question of semantics... the word 'feminist' seems to have been hijacked somewhere along the way and turned into something scary or shameful; it automatically reminds people of "dirty hippies" (i have nothing wrong with hippies, but they're not exactly accepted by the mainstream, are they? ), of rabid misandry, of feminism turned nasty... and i completely understand why people won't want to use a word which had those sorts of connotations. I know that i have quite intelligent guy friends who say that they are "scared of feminazis", assuming all feminists are man-haters!

i think all the busties who hang around here are clever enough to know the differences between the reality of feminism and society's negative perception, so we're just lucky to be able to be proud of being feminists

I guess another part of it is that lot of people have also been taught to ignore the gender bias that still exists because it's not as glaring as it once was. I think this is why some see feminism as out dated and no longer needed.

It's time to get more feminism into the history books i say! if people realise how so many rights they take for granted were fought for by our feminist foremothers, then maybe feminism wouldnt be such a dirty word to so many people.

(btw, apologies if this is stating the obvious/repeating previous comments... i haven't finished reading the whole thread yet...)

[Christine Nectar...]

roseviolet, i love that article! it reminds me of all those who say "well of course i believe in equality for women and men, but i wouldn't call myself a feminist".

well why not? to use the word does not mean that your definition of self ends there.
as for me, i'm a feminist, i'm also an environmentalist, humanitarian, and many other things. i like to spend time figuring out what MY feminism looks like, and how it plays out in my day to day life. if you don't like the idea of labelling yourself, then why not phrase it differently, as in "i believe in feminism", or "i support feminism".

most of the time i think being feminist means that i value choice for both genders, and also that i recognise gender inequalities is society. apply the ol' "gender analysis" so to speak.

i guess some would argue that "feminist" is an out-dated term. any thoughts on this? is feminism too narrow a term, and irrelevant if we want to recognize all forms of oppression?

[bustygirl]

Roseviolet, the sad thing is that the TV program probably either threw out or didn't record the responses of women who refused to be pitted against one another. (I'm going to err on the side of hope that there were some women who balked at being divided)

That's the biggest problem I see with how the media portrays most of womens' issues. It's much easier to play divide and conquer than ask why this choice is being dissected only on one side of the gender line. Certainly no one asks men whether they're doing an adequate job of parenting by working outside of the home.

[roseviolet]

Queen Bull, read this piece on feminism. I think you'll like it: http://tomatonation.com/?p=677


BustyGirl, I completely understand what you're saying and I totally agree with you on it. I saw a program on TV a number of months back that pitted stay-at-home moms against mothers who work full time. It got so ugly as the two sides fought over who were better mothers & who was providing the best life for their children. It was ridiculous and insulting. In my opinion, both choices are perfectly legitimate and healthy. You have to follow your gut and make your own choice based on your personal situation. These women should be supporting one another & their right to choose, not tearing one another down for choosing different things.


I have to admit that I giggled a bit when I read that bit in KissMeDucky's post about the young women who are planning to get married between 23 & 25 ... especially since they appear to be (1) quite young and (2) aren't even engaged yet! Have they managed to fit in the funerals for their parents on their little timeline yet? Sorry to sound morbid, but in my mind it makes just as much sense to plan for one as it does to plan for the other. It's all too heavily dependent upon fate & upon the actions of others. It's certainly fine to think ahead & wonder how you'll react in those situations, but there's a very large chance that your imaginings will be quite different than reality. That's certainly been true for me.

[Queen Bull]

Very well put.

ty so much.