I'm fully aware of the double standards, and guess what? I'm fine with them! They exist for a reason, and I understand that reason. While people keep screaming "we're all humans, treat all humans EXACTLY the same!!" I can't help but shake my head that some rather important (and unchangeable) facts remain - while men and women are all humans, men are still men and women are still women. Differences exist, both mental and physical. And as long as those differences exist, double standards will exist as we bicker amongst ourselves as to what we should keep the "same" and what we should keep "different".
It's the undisputed fact that men commit crime on a vastly bigger scale than women, men commit assault & rape on an overwhelmingly vastly bigger scale than women do on men. Men's prisons and overall inmate populations vastly outnumber womens' facilities. It's a harsh fucking imbalance and the very real truth, deal with it.
Does it make it alright when women commit a crime or are handed easier/lesser sentences for equally heinous crimes? Of course not! But the reason for that attitude exists nevertheless and it's part of being human, it's part of understanding our differences (mental especially) as male vs female.
Regardless of race, regardless of culture, regardless of time period, regardless of language, regardless of location - the primary "difference" that has stayed consistent in the entire era of human existence has been male vs female.
It's the way history has panned out over thousands of years of human civilization, and the way the present is shaping.
What I'm getting at is that I don't see the possibility of double standards ever being fully eliminated as long as there remain two genders in the human species, and I can live with that. All these petty arguments popping up about gender politics and sexism/misogyny/misandry are nothing more than passing events and ultimately inconsequential.
As far as I know, the need for feminist groups in first-world developed countries lies beneath the swamps of obsolescence as African-American Rights groups (or whatever they were called back then), or a gay guy shouting "I'm gay and I'm proud!" while standing outside the local YMCA.
In 3rd world countries I deeply sympathize with the amount of violence against women and misogyny happening on a daily basis, it's bound to happen wherever living conditions are tough and poverty is rife. That's where I can see feminist groups having the most meaningful impact, the NEED for their existence is very much there (if we're really talking about a global scale). But sadly we hardly hear about the hard work those genuine groups are doing from the media. Sucks, eh?
It's the undisputed fact that men commit crime on a vastly bigger scale than women, men commit assault & rape on an overwhelmingly vastly bigger scale than women do on men. Men's prisons and overall inmate populations vastly outnumber womens' facilities. It's a harsh fucking imbalance and the very real truth, deal with it.
Does it make it alright when women commit a crime or are handed easier/lesser sentences for equally heinous crimes? Of course not! But the reason for that attitude exists nevertheless and it's part of being human, it's part of understanding our differences (mental especially) as male vs female.
Regardless of race, regardless of culture, regardless of time period, regardless of language, regardless of location - the primary "difference" that has stayed consistent in the entire era of human existence has been male vs female.
It's the way history has panned out over thousands of years of human civilization, and the way the present is shaping.
What I'm getting at is that I don't see the possibility of double standards ever being fully eliminated as long as there remain two genders in the human species, and I can live with that. All these petty arguments popping up about gender politics and sexism/misogyny/misandry are nothing more than passing events and ultimately inconsequential.
But feminism DOES have a negative image, and the reason isn't because of sarcasm-feminists "not helping it" but because a ton of of the most vocal feminists have moved-on from genuinely pressing issues to simply tooting their horns at anything they arbitrarily deem sexist. It's because of utterly inconsequential and trivial shit like Sexy Hitman Nuns, Tomb Raider Almost-Rape and E3 Rape Joke gets the most attention and makes the world as a collective SIGH while shaking their head and muttering "...lol, dumb feminists". Some nobody on a forum isn't doing anywhere NEAR the amount of damage to the concept of feminism as the things that get thrown under the spotlight. You know about PETA right? How that BF3 Rat Stabbing got a whole lot of attention and we had similar sighs of "...lol, PETA". Huge negative blows to the group as a whole.Legion said:As frustrating as I am sure it certainly is that certain people need to go "fuck feminism" in every single thread about gender issues, I am seeing a growing trend amongst the self proclaimed feminists of being sarcastic or passive aggressive with comments such as "Oh, but I am an evil feminist so my thoughts don't matter" or comments such as yours.Colour-Scientist said:I hope that's not a male bunny, if it is, it's my duty as a feminist to hurt it.
While I am absolutely against the seemingly unbridled hatred levelled against feminism by certain users on this site, I cannot help but wonder if such comments are only doing more damage to the perception of feminists overall. I am not in any shape or form suggesting such comments are a justification for the way people treat it, but I'd have thought the best way to educate and convince people that their views on feminism are wrong would be to show it, ideally in a polite manner.
What I guess I am trying to say is, I get the impression that a lot of people who call themselves feminists on this site are only helping the negative image people have of it, because very few of them seem willing to take the high ground and properly explain their position, instead lowering themselves to the same level as the people who oppose them.
I am certainly not telling you how you should or should not post, merely trying to point out that posting in such a way is really only adding fuel to the fire, and doesn't seem to be particularly helpful in regards to solving the issues.
As far as I know, the need for feminist groups in first-world developed countries lies beneath the swamps of obsolescence as African-American Rights groups (or whatever they were called back then), or a gay guy shouting "I'm gay and I'm proud!" while standing outside the local YMCA.
In 3rd world countries I deeply sympathize with the amount of violence against women and misogyny happening on a daily basis, it's bound to happen wherever living conditions are tough and poverty is rife. That's where I can see feminist groups having the most meaningful impact, the NEED for their existence is very much there (if we're really talking about a global scale). But sadly we hardly hear about the hard work those genuine groups are doing from the media. Sucks, eh?