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I had an interesting conversation with a man in my life today. I asked him if he considered himself a feminist. (I totally expected the answer to be yes). He shocked me. He said no, he was not a feminist as he was not a woman. (I had to restrain myself from killing him).
It dawned on me, maybe we had different ideas of what it means to be a feminist. I clarified, "do you think that women deserve all of the same rights and protections under the law as men" he said "yah" - like I was an idiot.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are wingnuts in every school of thought but the basic premise of feminist thinking is that women are people and equal. Shocking huh? Of course this can be expanded upon but that is where a lot of grey area occurs and disagreements happening. This made me happy and sad at the same time. Happy- because a person believed that the notion of women as people idea was fundamental. Sad because a man would not want to label himself a feminist because he is not a woman- that there is still the belief that feminists are vagina monsters laying in wait to emasculate men (I am sure there are these people, but they are not the majority of feminists).
I am not a LGBT person, but i fully support the idea that they, being, people, are entitled to equal rights and protection under the law. Just because you are not a member of a group, does not preclude you from supporting them. So to that man--- hate to break it to you- you are feminist.
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4 comments:
I, too, am a feminist. Women have gotten short shrift in so many cultures, for so long a time, that anti-feminine attitudes just seem a matter of course and it makes little difference where one is from.
Which is humanity's shame.
That said, I came here in response to you Facebook question about building your blog. The best way, as far as I'm concerned, is a) to make a lot of friends on Facebook and b) read and comment on as many blogs as you can.
Comment on the blogs of people who comment here.
Comment on the blogs of people who comment on the blogs of people who comment here.
And never, ever, beg for comments.
I'm a supporter of equal rights for everyone! Kudos to you for feeling the same way! I just stopped by from SITS to say hello; hope you find time to do the same.
I think there's a negative connotation to some with the word "feminist." It's become corrupted and now it seems to be attached to this idea that to be a feminist means to be a man-hater. Which is, of course, ridiculous. But I think that view is why some people are so reluctant to associate themselves as feminists.
Interesting post and some interesting comments too, Karen is definitely right about the negative connotation of being a feminist. I never really though about it. Obviously I believe in women having equal rights, people should be treated equally and fairly but I suppose I've never really encountered problems because I'm a woman so I've never thought about things much.
Kate
The Tales of Me
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