Feminism and Men's Rights - Comments

why is there only a word for women's rights, what's the word for men's rights, just for the fairness?
While we're at it, Equal rights, all over the bord.
Rape and abuse, as you said, is all wrong.
Still, a fals acusation is a Rape on the system of justice.
We need a proper punioshment for this too?
It's way too easy to get away with it, and even when you're proven wrong, you don't get a punishment?
Where is the Child's(children's perspective int he law in general?

Feminismm is over rated.

I liked this article! I've been a sort of feminist all my life, until about a year ago. I realized that I didn't need a title to believe in the things that I believed in. So I stopped calling myself a feminist. I realized that no one is more important than another, so I still believe in what I used to, but I now fight for the rights and acceptance of everyone, not just women, in every way I can. Great article!

Yes, because every time a man is accused of rape, the victim is always believed, supported and rapists always go to jail. /sarcasm

I think it's a little unfair that everyone is stuck on you saying that the goals of feminism have been achieved. If I'm thinking about this right, what you might have meant was the [i]original[/i] goals of feminism have been achieved. When feminism first became a political ideology, it's true that some of their main focuses were earning women the right to vote and many other things that we have achieved. Just try not to use such generalizing sentences next time :)
Other than that, I liked this article. While everyone else has pointed out percentages and statistics, I don't think that was what you were trying to get across. Of course we see more crimes against women than men- I don't think you were refuting that. I think you were just bringing to light the discrepancies associated with the sociological ideas behind "masculinity" and "femininity." In which case, I thought it was a nice article.

I can't begin to think about, let alone point out, all that is wrong with this article. However, I am giving you a [i]very slight[/i] bit of benefit of the doubt.

You're getting a lot of flack about saying that the goals of feminism have been achieved, and although I don't agree with that at all, I do see where you are coming from. I can tell that even though it wasn't mentioned (even though it should have been), you are focusing on the rights in the United States.

As stated by my college sociology text book, "the feminist approach moves women form the margins of scientific inquiry to the center." I'm not sure if this is what you meant by "goals of feminism", but I wouldn't agree with you either way. Think about the wage gap between men and women. Looking at a hypothetical women and man with the exact same education, going into the exact same job, you would see that the woman would have a harder time getting the job, keeping the job, and especially getting any kind of promotion. You'd also see the man make more money than the woman, even at the starting position.

Let's look at the United States government for a second. As of 2009, only 6 of the 50 states had a female governor. In Congress in 2010 there were 90 women out of the 533 members. In the United States, women make up 51% of the population and only 17% of Congress. I just cannot begin to see how you think women's rights rival those of men's.

And I'm not even going to get into your ideas about rape cases and false accusations. You've already had multiple people point out the [b]major[/b] flaws within that argument.

""the goals of feminism have pretty much all but been achieved"

I quit reading there, because clearly this is an ethnocentric article or you couldn't fathom writing such a thing, and even in developed, western nations women still live at a second hand status.

I rather agree with this article. My boyfriend right now is actually having a hard time getting out of a volatile relationship with his ex-girlfriend. They're not together, obviously, but because they have a child together he's still around her a great deal, and she is constantly abusive to him, threatening him with their son and whatnot. I think this article is great. :)

So many points have been missed in this article.

Blanket statements like "the goals of feminism have pretty much all but been achieved" are not only completely wrong, but also extremely offensive. Take what Airi said. While the U.S. is a leading model as to how many rights women have gained over the years, women are still discriminated against in very large ways. The difference is that the discrimination is more obscure, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist and should be ignored.

The falsely reported rape percent is 2% as compared to other crimes, as my psychology professor told my class last semester. We only think it's a huge problem because the media unfairly focuses on "scandalous" stories while ignoring the real problems. As a society, we have become accustomed to the occurrence of rape, and therefore we do not really blink an eye when stories pop up. In fact, we actually tend to [b]BLAME[/b] the victim. That's why, as a person below me said, an overwhelming percent (~90%) of victims don't even report the crime. Why? Because they're ashamed. Society has led them to believe that their attackers are in the right, and they are in the wrong.

I agree that there are cases in which men are discriminated against. However, it is only a handful in what I would estimate tens of thousands of crimes against women.

According to an informational flyer posted in my dorm, 1 in 4 women will be abused in her lifetime. 1 in 9 men will be abused in his. That's over TWICE as many crimes against women than men, and that's [b]only in relationships[/b].

I am frankly insulted that this article glosses over the gross majority of crimes against one gender in favor of the other. I would have no problem recognizing that crimes against men do occur, but I demand the recognition that women suffer too at a much greater extent and have for thousands of years.

I disagree that juries always side with women in rape cases; women often are blamed for being raped because a lot of people seem to have the view that rape victimes are somehow asking for it. It's same for women who are in abusive relationtions - male victims aren't the only victims being 'blamed'.

The issues you've raised, such as custody, are due to the patriarcal society we live in, which does effect men negatively, but is much more negative for women. In the case of custody, the reason why women often end up looking after children is because females are often seen as the nuture/care givers.

You also seem to be focuing on issues in the Western world which kafka and Airi have already pointed out. Feminism should be about getting equal rights for every women, including women in other countries and trans* women, which your article leaves out.

I don't know how you can call yourself a feminist while accusing women of frequently accusing men of rape/sexual abuse wrongly. Rates of false reporting among rape cases are very low and comparable to other crimes, something around 5% - on the other hand, sexual abuse is one of the most under-reported crimes and up to 90% of actual rape victims are too afraid to come forward about their attack.

[b][i]"the goals of feminism have pretty much all but been achieved."[/i][/b]
This statement right here bothered me so much. This is not the truth at all. Not even close. Many countries still have a very long way to go in the line of women's rights. Looking at your profile, I can see you're from the U.S. The U.S has come a very long way in the line of women's rights, but not all countries are like the U.S. This cannot be said for all countries because not all countries treat women as well as the U.S does. There are many countries where women are treated as nothing or have very little rights/respect. There are many countries where women are nothing but objects, property for males to fight over and “own”.

Even here in the U.S, we have a long way to go in terms of women's rights. Women are still looked down upon by many people, looked down as if they are lesser than men. Like you said in the article, our society still carries the view that women are weak and men are strong. That men are better than women. The war on women that is currently happening in the U.S is a strong example of how sexist American society still is and how much work we have to do. The war on women is an effort to take away a woman's rights, especially a woman’s reproductive rights. Even here in the U.S, we have a long way to go. Even here, we are not close to accomplishing the goals of feminism because women are still vastly looked down upon in many ways.

To say that feminism has "pretty much achieved" its goals is undermining the struggle of women all over the world. There are some countries that do not even treat their women as human beings. It is undermining them and their struggle for their rights and freedoms. That statement is insulting to women who are still struggling to even be considered a living, breathing, thinking human being rather than just being considered a doll/toy for males to have fun with. That statement probably bothered me more than it should have. I tend to get a tad bit too passionate when it comes to women’s rights.

Now, that being said, I do agree with what you were saying. Our society still has a very sexist view. A view that men have to be strong at all points and all women are nothing but damsels in distress who constantly need a savior. It’s an old way of thinking that societies all across the globe are having trouble leaving behind or even simply progressing away from. Societies all over the globe have a lot to do in terms of leaving this mindset behind and embracing gender equality.

I myself am a feminist. I believe in gender equality and I also believe in blurring the lines of gender. I believe in empowering women to make their own choices. I am a strong fighter for women’s rights all over the world. Societies all over the world are still very sexist. Societies all over, including in the U.S, have a patriarchy essence to them. In some countries, this essence is even stronger. Every individual contributes to the way society views gender and we all can make a difference in changing society’s view of gender and gender roles.