Opinions on Misconceptions and Generalizations

Wait, WHAT?

                                         

Man-Hating, Promiscuous, Unattractive, Insecure, Irate, Hairy, Lesbian, Unworthy, Women. Generalizations occur.  Stereotypes happen.  How their truth resonates is up for debate, and the argument one has for the debate also depends on their outlook on life.  If you're looking for a stereotype you'll undoubtedly find one.  If all you do is generalize, you will attract people who fit those characteristics. So have they permeated through to our psyche that even when we outwardly refute them, we still subconsciously believe them, and silently accept them?  Each facet of life has a multitude of sweeping observations attached to them. Feminism may be one of the most misunderstood, social aspects of life.  Something most people are afraid to associate themselves with or even claim.

Back in August there was a video posted of responses from a few people about what they thought feminism was, and if they supported it directly or passively.  This video in itself presents a generalization of more women leaning towards the Feminist side and more men denying it when both genders stated they believe in equality for women (and presumably all people) but the men did not identify with the term Feminist. Hmm, interesting when the first official post of this blog incorporated the socially accepted definition of feminism, that it advocates the rights of women to those equal to men.  So would that not make EVERYONE who believed in equality for women, as well as all people, a FEMINIST *loud roars of thunder and steaks of lighting* .  In a nutshell, that definition has been approved by the status quot and how vague it is, is applicable to anyone who touts in believing in and wanting equality for all.  One could present the rebuttal that it specifies "to advocate" but in its simplicity advocate simple means making one statement or writing one concurrence which supports that said movement.  So with all this supposed support, why are there prejudice patterns attached to a movement that should be very progressive and positive, and why do people cringe (roll eyes, smack their lips even) when they hear feminism?  Media and Groupthink.

The Media affects each and every individual exposed to it.  With an overabundant amount of biased information emitted to us, we become conditioned to a standard way of thinking by the masses. This is the most dominant method of producing social conformity, what Irving Janis defines as Groupthink.  Even with other different social reforms sprouting and making their mark on pop cultures, there is still evidence of the group thinking in an elitist manner.  They produce propaganda to support the philosophy of race and color not being a legitimate reason to judge and discriminate but sex and gender , well there is an exception to that issue. From television to popular literary pulp fiction such as magazines, and world news papers, to the even infiltrating into one of the most liberal concepts of our post-modern times, the Internet, the regressive way of thinking that women have a certain subordinate place in society amongst her "peers" is still quite mainstream; there is evidence in sub-culture groups such as the "Pro-Black" community that a woman's place is simply to aid and support the efforts of the black man, or in a large number of lesbian relationships and communities there's is affirmation that one has to carry the image of being more masculine, or the more dominant one thus being deemed the man, (in most femme on femme relationships).  Also, the notion that gay men should be ashamed of their sexuality, and that homophobia is an excusable (understandable) attribute from people.  Should there be an example of if a man is not the least bit interested in politics, sports, and/or bringing home the bacon, he's now been looked upon as being a bit "fruity" because there is no way that one heterosexual man is THAT odd.  He has to fall into some type of masculine definition to be seen as a true man.

Despite efforts of promoting equality for all (mostly men) and believing in fairness for women (should be all) people fall under this umbrella of infinite double standards, that when Feminist bring their literature, programming, web-series, blogs to counteract the defense of patriarchal rule, yet again their pursuit of civil rights is combated with harsh ridicule for the cause.  A group of Feminists actively advocating against the rape of women are publicized in the news as man bashers, when it's an honest demonstration of their hurt and frustration with how people choose to turn a blind eye to a very unethical common situation.  Women who aren't the most "feminine" in how they dress, or choose not to shave their arms, legs, pits, buttocks, back, and coochie daily are automatically categorized as lesbian when not too many stop to think, maybe she's just comfortable with herself as she is?  To include the fact that a woman who chooses not to be hairless is considered less attractive by her patriarchal counterparts. Lastly, but certainly not the only Feminist judgment dealt with in life, is that Feminists who aren't (100%) lesbians are loose, wild, hyper-sexual women.  Such an abstruse way of thinking considering how oversexualized and hyper-sexual patriarchy is...?  But because a woman made up in her own mind that marrying the father of her children isn't included in her personal destiny and that a non-nuclear family still can be a strong one is a "whore issue"; maybe even the fact that another large amount of women are comfortable with being single, not a mother and happy with pursuing how many people she wants when she wants and being open to them all about it isn't self-respecting.  The fact that women of these calibers do not conform to the ideal of chastity being respectable and respectful are worthless women, when in actuality, the women who submit to the male standard of "You're MY WHORE wife/y, that's the difference" degrade themselves more consistently than a woman who knows she doesn't want to be reduced to her vagina being a pleasure pot, her intellect being second guessed and put down, and her emotions being ridiculed when logistics just aren't solid. Is still that man's whore, and a tamed whore in the eyes of all the men who are intelligent to the fact that she is taken, you know, like a possession. So women who argue against the entire authority of the male perspective are too extreme to be accepted as human beings, still; if she's not a fuck-toy, she's too smart for her own good (Tilts head, really now?).

Feminism is not immune to groupthink, obviously the prevalent definition of it, is what people accept and believe, feminist themselves incorporate its meaning into their practice.  Feminism puts the most emphasis on individual experiences. It's not gender specific, even living in a male dominated world, men have issues with non-conformity and being able to express themselves often gets trumped by the inner voice of groupthink. Stereotypes reverberate in the human mentality much more than we would like to admit; we think more like one another than we accept, even against the proclamations we make of how we have a different mindset.  Sure the misconceptions come from a place of half-truths, but that's only what we see and read in the media, and all the social hearsay we get from one another.  Ignorant questions become a method of re-evaluating your innermost prejudice thoughts.  Check yourself, and learn your own personal benefits from feminism.

A Woman's World? (Video)

Opinions on a Woman's Place; There A lot of opposing and different opinions. 

Keep it on the Hushhh...

                                          Image Credit: speedbump.com

From what we all have learned and accept, women have been the scourge of society since the beginning of time, supposedly.  Women are to blame for so much, as it goes in religious allegory, a woman committed the first act of blasphemy, condemning the entire human race to not just death, but stripping them of paradise.  In mythology there was a decade of war, centered on a human female descendant of Zeus.  Two men were fighting for her “love” and their desire for her to belong to either one or the other.  We are first taught that a woman’s menstrual cycle is her curse, the result of her damning all mankind by knocking them down from living amongst the gods, or being close to the Almighty.  If women are allegedly innate evil, conniving, and destructive specimens, it would only make sense to disregard them in humanity.  What we perceive as evil we view it as the ultimate negativity.  Therefore it only makes sense to attempt to drown out the re-establishing of a woman’s power.  For centuries there has been war on women, relentless efforts to silence feminist voices, and dominate societies with a hetero-normative male perspective on life.  Since the female gender is as powerful as the male gender to over shadow that truth, history books misconstrue information, and they omit pre-history from curriculums. The only women who are “weaker and the lesser gender” are the women who choose to accept and follow patriarchal rules.  These women, too, are patriarchist and guilty of oppression.  With such a vast support system from simple minded men and women, society works overtime to control anything outside of its norm.

Historically, the phallocentric organization goes to extreme measures to prevent a revolution of equality.  Their methods of oppression range from denying people the privilege to learn, forcing people to work in unsanitary conditions, feeding people their unwanted scraps of food if at all, disbanding families, and using a lot of violence as power.  They overpower cultural supremacy in politics and foreign policies, and still manifest spiritual/religious persecution deeming who’s diety is more real and more right than the next; the firmest grip of maltreatment society has on a group of people is the cruelty they exercise on the feminist population.  Everything that feminism stands for: female freedom, LGBTQ equality, individuality, human unity and civil liberties, patriarchy engulfs it and controls it.  Any deviation from structure of patriarchal practices means punishment.   Feminism contradicts what patriarchy represents: control, fear, gender guidelines, and oppression.   Any form of political expression that gets “too radical” the conservative opinion forces a negative connotation to it.  All alternatives to what we know as tradition is generalized, all people who are ignorant to feminism brush it off as hypersexual, man-hating, dirty, overbearing, hippie lesbians with a penis complex; they aren’t scholarly and they have no home training or they are a bunch of weak, insecure, sexually abstruse, lazy, effeminate men with little to no self-esteem.  We come off as obnoxious because we show up to political debates with our opinions; we are labeled riotous when we exercise our freedoms of expression, speech, and assembly.  There is no mutual empathy and good cause in the phallocentric way of life only take, conquer, control and kill, it is in his story. Which means history is also catered to the male line of knowledge and agreement.  They attach the element of fear to feminism and have people completely against it, keeping them expendable sheep of society, or those who believe in human rights equal for all people – women, men, male, and female – repudiate the term in fear of being associated with misconduct and keep themselves consistent to the group think, because feminist are bad people, they are against the greater good, they cause issues, they are the problem, they are getting out of hand and if they can’t be controlled they must be silenced.  

No joke. Choice Matters. Everywhere.

Opinions on the What&The Who of Feminism

This is a topic that will occur considering how Feminism is a progressive culture therefore will evolve -different issues will arise, the community will get larger as well as stronger. To get a snowball effect, or running list, so to speak of what Feminism is and who affiliates with it and how.

Feel free to lend your opinion below:

Do you consider yourself a feminist? What attributes & values "makes" you a feminist?

What does feminism consist of?

Has feminism changed, has it needed to change, and is historical feminism relevant?

What do women owe society? What does society owe women?

Also to consider, what do you think of when you hear the word feminism?

Be honest. Be opinionated.

Who is...who can be...a Feminist?

Who is a Feminist? A simple question, so identifying one should be just as simple.    Not everyone who claims to be a supporter of feminism is feminist.  Not everyone who pushes for female equality is a feminist; there can be an argument that there are levels of feminism, but as with something to which there is only one degree, such as being alive versus being deceased, there is only one degree of feminism.  There's no, "well women can do anything when it comes to education and the workforce, but we can do without their political opinion" or believing that feminism began on a woman's urge for sexual freedom to only exercise her right to say yes, is definitely not a feminist perspective. If you believe feminism differs by race, color, and social status in America and you ignore the social issues of other nations, you fall drastically short of pursuing freedom for women.  There are many ways to contradict and question someone's feminism pledge, but there is one guarantee: Feminism shows no biased to one gender or sex, and it the antithesis of patriarchy. 

Women, and female gendered people, are not the only people who reap social benefits from feminism.  Men also are a beneficiary of the international social-political reform that is Feminism.  It may sound like a contradiction in itself "Feminism shows no biased to one gender or sex,” because feminism is supposed to be the "the fight for equality of women to that of men."  To reiterate from a previous post, men have been coerced into thinking that any deviation from the proverbial "manly-man" agenda reduces him to being less than a man.  A feminist is not a person who only wants equal rights for woman in areas of employment; they are not just people who push for the ability not to be constrained by the virgin-whore dichotomy.  A feminist is not at all a person who agrees amiably with the ideals of feminism in order to dissuade those morals and make them more agreeable with patriarchy.  What most people see as feminist qualities are just that, qualities; there is potential in their advocacy to be a much needed feminist, female and male, but unless their entire approach to the entire patriarchal way of living is altered, they are much appreciated and much needed Feminist Allies. 

An overall Feminist is a person who believes that a person's human experience is not defined by their anatomy, and their anatomy does not set limits to their capabilities; feminists understand that a person’s aptitude is based on a person’s choices, personality, and confidence. Feminist Allies are the people who fit the denotation of a feminist in a standard lexicon.  

What's...Feminism? The Other "F" Word.

The subtle difference in our anatomy makes a grandeur difference in how women are regarded by society, as inferior somehow.  Being a woman means that you don’t move as diligently, you don’t have an abundance of physical and emotional strength, and that you’re not as smart or quick-witted.  Women were not always viewed as the “weaker-gender” or as property; over the centuries the degradation came thus the crusade for re-establishing equal hierarchy began.  The social reform, Feminism, spawned supporters for the abolition of gender and color restrictions on people when applying for a job, exercising political interest, becoming a homemaker, and an endless plethora of issues which reflect on gender and race. 

 “What is feminism?” shouldn’t be an inquiry in any persons mind over the age of 9.  Feminism usually has a negative connotation attached to it, for those who aren’t as educated on the topic.  Unaware people will think of a massive crowd of angry women, aggressively shouting whilst burning bras in a furious flow of estrogen and menstruation. Or for those who at least like to know the basics of any given subject, in this case, Feminism, may consult a dictionary of  some sort, and read a definition such as: Feminism:[fem-uh-niz-uhm] noun; the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.  Which is a very vague yet affirmative definition, however how often does that concept change, progressing from one generation into the next?  Does it become more radical and why specifically “rights of women equal to those of men?” Are there not ways in which society has coaxed a man into accepting that he can have his masculinity questioned, simply in his choice of lifestyle? If he doesn’t enjoy sports he’s a punk, if he prefers to do domestic duties such as cleaning and cooking then he “doesn’t wear the pants” in the situation. 

Feminism can be explained, not defined, especially not by patriarchy. In order to broaden the idea on what Feminism is the belief that its sole purpose is to allow women the equal rights to those of men must first be eradicated. Feminism isn’t just for women; men are incorporated in the effort to have gender equality.  Feminism is the notion that women are people as well, and that we have our own independent thoughts, and includes the fact that women are much more rational than society assumes.  Our intellect does not end at simply being smart. Feminism includes creativity, and accomplishments in all things male-dominated.  The art of Feminism includes but isn’t limited to sexuality.  It is uninhibited to a specific country; it extends to sister nations, with people full of drive to efface their society’s misogynistic values.  Feminism isn’t just a social reform; it’s a culture of expressionism.