Feminism

@ IsaacTheHonestRanter
Please explain how I misrepresented your words. I quoted what you said, word for word. You used an example that is grossly unfair. Skimpy clothing are still clothes that cover the female gentalia, a man walking out stark naked does not. That is not an equal example, which is why I brought it up. Had you said that both were naked or both were scantily dressed, then I wouldn't have brought it up.

Skin is not sexual or a reason to be stared at. Arms, legs, neck, stomach - none of those are sexual or wrong to put on show, and none give anyone else the excuse to stare at and ogle another person. And it's not fair to compare a man who takes his shirt off to a woman who does her - a woman doing that can face public indecency because of the sexualisation of the female breasts. Men do not share that.

And actually, so long as the genitals are covered, I don't see why either gender should be judged for showing skin. Skin is skin, everyone has it. But the truth is, it's more controversial and unacceptable if a woman shows skin than it is for a man.

@ IsaacTheHonestRanter
No one seems to care about that one example, or about many? I think you'll find that feminists do care about everyone. Yes, there is going to be judgement. It's human nature to judge -- it isn't going to stop happening overnight. But you can see people trying. They're being more open-minded and less critical of other's behaviours, identities and so on and so forth. It may not be everyone and it may not be all the time, but the effort is there. Unfortunately there are going to be some people who bring feminism down. There are going to be assholes. But there are some people trying to empower women and give them confidence and who aren't assholes.

It has since spread to all genders. I see many feminists who include everyone, but the focus is on women because we are at more of a disadvantage and are discriminated against more often.

IsaacTheHonestRanter:

Also, I despise the notion that "women need to be made equal to men". This anecdote is said by feminists. This implies that the feminist doesn't think women are equal in the first place. Men and women are equal, it's just that people don't see them that way.

If men and women are equal yet they aren't seen that way, there is an imbalance. One gender is lesser than the other, as they are treated as such. Feminists think women are equal to men, and they know others don't, and they are trying to bring about a change so that everyone thinks anyone is their equal. Feminists are not putting women down or thinking lowly of women. If this were the case, the feminist movement wouldn't get anywhere.

I would say that I self identify as a feminist. I know that a lot of people of our generation are moving away from that term and I think it's kind of sad because as racist, homophobic, transphobic, and classist as feminists in the past have been, they've made options available for me that I never would have had had feminism not existed.

While there have been pockets within feminism arguing for rights for disenfranchised women, I'd like to see mainstream feminism shift forward this decade with regards to WOC, gay, and trans women. I think that @IssactheHonestRanter made a good point about how more and more people are seeing feminism as a joke because of the focus on issues that affect middle class straight cis white women. I personally don't hold that view, but I understand the frustration coming from people who do. A couple of examples of this would be the idea that trans women don't belong in women's only spaces or the policing of women of color's bodies and expressions of sexuality.

I see feminism as a movement that primarily focuses on equaling the playing field for women, but any inequality towards one group has negative impacts on the society as a whole.

Take something like: Feminists want to change the prevailing gender roles that women's role is to become a mother and her job is secondary. This has obvious negative impacts on women, but it also hurts men. It teaches men that they cannot be good caretakers (the idiotic idea that men are babysitting their own children) and devalues any impact men have as role models to their children. It puts financial pressure on men in a society which increasingly depends on two income households. It leads to women gaining custody in custody cases because they have been the primary caregivers.

I think feminism is definitely still important in the west. I should be able to go out on a date with a girl without men deciding that as lesbians we're there for their entertainment. I should not be afraid that if I get pregnant I'll lose my job or that after going to school for almost a decade, people won't want to hire me because "she'll just get pregnant and leave anyway". And I definitely should not have to resort to not leaving my apartment without headphones in, so at least I don't hear if someone decides they want to shout at me while I'm in public.