We are #NDSUFeminist. We are a group of four women collaborating together to make a difference on campus and in the community. Our group began with the challenge of creating an activism project in our Women and Gender Studies 350 class. Our goal for this activism project is to show the NDSU community what a feminist looks like and show students that there are feminists all around them. We are also hoping to dispel myths and old views of feminism.
So what is a feminist? Webster’s definition of feminism is “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities”. This is the core of feminist ideology. The majority of feminists are not actually man hating, bra burning, angry women as the media wants everyone to believe. Feminists are people (men and women) who care about equality and choice. Feminists don’t want women to be stronger and more powerful than men. We aren’t trying to topple the patriarchy in order to establish a matriarchy. Instead we want everyone to be treated equally. No one should be seen as less than others because of their gender, sex, or race. Feminism is inclusive to all.
Feminism is also about choosing what roles we play in life–whether it is having a career, a family, or both, the choice comes down to you. Throughout most of history, our lives have been organized around gender, with specific roles for men and women. Our choices should not be limited because society wants us to fit within certain stereotypical roles dependent on our gender. In addition, perhaps gender is more complicated than we’ve always thought. Dividing humans into two categories puts people into situations that they may not feel that they belong in. Just because someone has a vagina doesn’t mean they are destined to be a homemaker and wife (just like it doesn’t mean that if you have a penis you are supposed to be the breadwinner). No one should be limited in what they can do based on their sex, gender, or race. Feminism is about breaking down these stereotypical roles that society wants us to fit into. Everyone deserves the chance to pursue the life they want. These stereotypical roles do more harm in society than benefit.
Sincerely,
Jessica Murray, Senior, Human Development and Family Science
Cassandra Woods, Senior, Apparel, Retail Merchandising and Design
Carly Deal, Junior, Women and Gender Studies and International Studies
Hannah Stevens, Senior, English
The problem with feminism is that it is framed completely in one direction. It calls for “equality” but recognizes that the only people causing the problem are men. The fact that it’s called “feminism” shows this completely. I have yet to see a mainstream feminist bring up the fact that women receive less jail time, have a higher percentage of child custody, or any other area where women are advantaged to men. Until I start seeing feminism recognizing ways in which men are disadvantaged, a dictionary definition of feminism is completely useless.
Equality is such a ridiculously vague concept it might as well be meaningless, which is why I wouldn’t consider myself a feminist even by “the dictionary definition ™.”
Equality with what? “Men” and “Women” are aggregate terms of billions of individuals. Men are not equal to other men; women are not equal to other women; likewise men are not equal to women.
But even apart from individuals, on aggregate when you try to make some things more equal, other things will necessarily be unequal. So you really do have to be specific when you say you want equality.
Also, since you want to show what a feminist looks like, there are a bunch of different factions of feminism. You mention choice. If a woman CHOOSES to be a stay-at-home mom, there are loads of mainstream non-radical feminists who will criticize her for conforming to gender roles and undermining feminist activity.
Or to use a different example, there’s the famous pro-choice example of “it’s my body; I can do what I want” but there are loads of mainstream non-radical feminists who will damn voluntary prostitution as degrading women.
So feminism is a very incoherent movement so even calling yourself a feminist is a vague term.
But that’s just their principals. If you look at the actions of actual feminists, they use bully tactics and will shun anyone who criticizes them as sexist/racist/homophobe. They will use the brute force of government to forcibly silence anyone who disagrees with them because they think it’s hate-speech.
Feminists like to praise Title IX but in practice is bears more resemblance to the inquisition from the dark ages.
There’s also so much blatant misinformation spouted by feminists such as the famous 1 in 4 campus rape statistic which is soooo false. And there’s the wage gap myth which has been disproven a bajillion times over by anyone who’s looked into it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjWBXbGVyQU
Feminism as a movement has gone so far down the hole you’re going to have a hard time trying to salvage it.
AHAHAHAHAHA!!!
I just went to that #ndsufeminist on twitter and it seems to be favorable of Jessica Velenti, a known radical man-hating feminist that this article tries to distance itself from.
She thinks women in the US are just as oppressed as women in places like Saudi Arabia because patriarchy or whatever.
Incidentally,
I believe she also came to NDSU a while back to give a lecture hosted by the WGS department.
Dear, Tom. Happy birthday: http://everydayfeminism.com/2012/08/why-men-need-feminism-3/
In practice, feminists do not go out of their way to defend men’s rights. The few feminists who do, like Christina Hoff Summers, are demonized for betraying feminism.
Reference the link inf Matt Frohlich’s article in the comments
http://ndsuspectrum.com/the-feminist-cult-will-brook-no-dissent/#comments