White Men on Feminism

[etherial]

http://osewalrus.livejournal.com/73474.html

Comments

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with tpau, in that he manages to describe a good portion of why I've often felt alienated by the femenist movement, despite feeling like I am exactly what they'd hoped to get out of it (an independant woman who has chosen and created a life that is comprable to that of a man without compromising who I am). I hate it whenever people say "women do blah" or "men are thus-and-such" (especially when it means telling me I will or will not do or be able to do something solely due to what I do or do not have between my legs[1]), but I also can't accept the intolerance of a lot of self-declared femenists who seem to think that any woman who choses something The Movement wouldn't chose (from being in porn to staying home and raising kids) is degrading not only herself but all women everywhere. You can't disagree with The Movement without causing harm to all women everywhere, and that turns me right the hell off.

[1] You can name obvious exceptions, such as I will be able to have certain illnesses (cervical cancer, endometriosis) while being immune to others (testicular cancer, overly enlarged prostate), but these are involuntary physiological aspects of my body, not voluntary and/or trainable behaviors.

[tpau]

thati swhat always bothered me. to ME, feminism was always about choice. and i shoudlbe able to make the choice i want rathe then the choice the movement wants to make for me. why trade one oppression for another?

[agthorr.livejournal.com]

I hate it whenever people say "women do blah" or "men are thus-and-such"

If people said "women have a tendency to do blah" or "men have a tendency to be thus-and-such", would that also be objectionable?

Or, put another way, do you feel there is ever any truth to such statements?

(just curious)

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

That is objectionable when people use those statements improperly (which they often do). They're statements regarding statistics, which means they can not predict the behavior of a specific individual in a useful fashion (they predict the behavior of a random individual, which is not the same thing). So when people use such statements to describe the actions of a specific individual or to predict the future behavior of a specific individual, that is improper use and I will object.