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Are you a feminist? (If so why, if not why not?)
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
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this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2025
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Of course I'm a feminist. It's one of those sublime categories like "alive" or "pregnant" that has only two possible states.
This 👆is the answer
This is the basic problem with how feminism is promoted. If you don’t agree with our views, you are a sexist pig.
This is not a good way to make reluctant people to accept your ideas. It pushes them even further into opposition.
Can you please be a bit more concrete? What do you think feminism is and which views would push someone into opposition?
There are some who use the "feminism" banner to promoted sexism towards men. I've seen posts that talk about wishing for a world where no men exist etc and it gets praised under the guise of feminism.
Imo that isn't feminism, that's just misandry. If you swapped our the word "men" with "women" in those posts, they would rightly be called sexist.
I am definitely a feminist in that i believe in equality and believe that women have had a number of challenges presented to them that men typically dont experience.
I also, however, believe there are challenges that men experience that typically women dont.
Feminism is equal rights and opportunities for everyone. My added thing is equal responsibilities. This is the dictionary type of definition.
Most people (at least the vocal ones) are either completely sexist (both sides - feminazis and sexist men) or think it is only about promoting interests of women.
I can’t give you all the possible views off the top of my head but I'll try.
If a person can't accept the basic premise that woman are equal to men, they're sexist by definition. This isn't the fault of "how feminism is promoted".
It is. Most people associate feminism with promoting women and not equality. Most people don’t look up the definition in a dictionary
I care a lot less about what word they use than what ideals they espouse. They can call themselves egalitarians or antisexists or whatever label as long as they oppose sexism, misogyny, heteronormativity, and "gender roles".
Agreed. I think as a whole society has started giving more value to words than actions. It is backwards, especially when social media is prone to creating echo chambers for words, and actions go unnoticed.
"most people" are (1) a much smaller group that you think and (2) wrong.
If your behavior can at all be described as sexist, then you're not a feminist. That includes both Feminism Appropriating Radical Transphobes like JK Rowling.and outright sex pests like Andrew Cuomo.
Well, I can only comment on my social group and that is the only group i am concerned about in this context. So, it is 'most people' for me.
I hate this polar thinking so much. Everything is not all or none, yes or no, black or white. People are unique and everything is a spectrum. Even Hitler had admirable qualities and if this makes you uneasy, you need to open up your mind.
But certainly the most relevant quality he had was his rabid, genocidal antisemitism, right?
You wouldn't complain about him being labeled as a eugenicist just because he painted a little when he wasn't slaughtering millions.
I don’t mix things. I admire Hitler for being a vegan and pursuing art. I absolutely hate what he did with concentration camps.
Relavant depends on the thing we talk about. If we are talking about history, he isn't winning any Peace or Humanitarian awards.
"What he did with concentration camps"
vs
"Vegan"
You're not beating the allegations here.
What do you mean?
You don't seem to have a problem with the use of labels when it comes to dietary choices, im not sure why you'd go to such lengths to avoid calling Hitler a eugenicist. You even used passive language by saying 'what he did with concentration camps' instead of stating plainly that he 'exterminated 6 million jews' in them.
You are just proving my point that people get hostile if you use or don’t use some category specific words.
He killed Jews. It is not a fucking secret.
Well yeah, but I didn't say there are only 2 possible diets - carnivore or vegan. There is a shit ton of diets in between - vegetarian, omnivore, eggetarian, pescatarian, etc. You have this messed up mindset that anyone who is not xyz has to be abc, never lmn or def.
I haven't excluded him as being vegan, I'm just not going out of my way to avoid calling him an antisemitic eugenicist. Just because the label sounds mean doesn't make the label false.
Sexism is expressed in a lot of different ways, and some are more harmful than others. It doesn't make the label inaccurate simply because it hurts your feelings. You can be a lot of other things in addition to being sexist, too.
Ok, if don’t use the word, do you think I am supporting him?
I certainly have questions when you're loath to use it for literal- fucking-hitler.
I don’t loath using it. I am curious about your reaction to labels. I criticised Hitler but it was not enough for you. Same thing with feminism.
You didnt criticize him at all, you said you didnt like 'what he did with concentration camps'.
You have stronger criticism for feminists, and that says quite a bit about your politics.
I also said he is not getting any peace or humanitarian prize. I also said he killed Jews (killing is bad imo).
I find your assumption about my views based on use (or lack of) of a single word fascinating. This is very similar to how feminism is promoted and men are grilled for words while actions are ignored.
A euphemism and an understatement of fact is pretty illuminating on your views of the world's most famous mass murderer.
Ok, I quit. Let your mind make assumptions. I might be a Nazi, I might kill kittens in my free time, I might steal from beggars, let your imagination run wild.
You could be, yea. But its not at all because you refuse to use particular labels, but because you seem all too comfortable running cover for people who fit them.
Not everything is a spectrum. You are either actually pregnant or not-pregnsnt. You're either free to go when the officet is talking to you or you are being detained. You either had consent for sex or you didn't.
For example, if the example you provide to bolster your argument is "Hitler had admirable qualities", then you've jumped all the way past Godwin's law and there's no use talking to you.
Flaw in your argument is that you are comparing states and one time actions with mindset and sum of many actions.
Yet you did.
If you are not a feminist, you don't believe in the equality of the sexes, right?
I'm not sure, this feels a bit like when people complain about "anti-fascist" as a label because it makes them feel pressured to be anti-fascist or otherwise be seen as sympathetic to fascism ... my question is why is anti-fascism (or in this case, feminism) so hard to accept?
I guess feminism works precisely by getting us to think about sexism and whether we think that is acceptable or not - I don't think it's good to be sexist, and I think it's reasonable to feel ashamed about being sexist. Social shame and taboo seems appropriate in this case, no? Like the anti-fascist example, fascists should be ashamed and face taboo for their views.
Not that you're wrong, some people will double-down in the face of opposition, this is precisely why so many fundamentalist churches promote street preaching, it doesn't convert people (which is the reason given for the activity), but it is effective at solidifying the loyalty of the member, since on the street they experience significant opposition, which bolsters their in-group identity. It's like a cult dynamic.
So yeah, it's probably good for social shame to be introduced for sexism, fascism, racism, etc. - but it's not a complete victory, the shame can induce stronger loyalties to those movements for those who still hold the views despite their taboo status.
People are unique and everyone has varying opinions on every topic, so how can they be simplified to a simple yes or no. There is a spectrum for everything. People who are at extremes find it easy to fit in yes or no categories but everyone else feels lost.
For example, there can be a guy in a rural area who supports his family's women by letting them go to school/college, working, dating who they want but he is very adamant that they should not dress and wear makeup like "whores". Would you call him a feminist? Why or why not?
Yikes, this is a hard no. People don’t change their views like this. Also, you are being a bully if you shame people for anything. Just because you think you have a moral high ground does not make it okay to impose it on others. You are no different than religious evangelicals if you do.