This thread is (mostly) men arguing (mostly) men about women's rights.
What's worse, this thread is (mostly) men who have skewed opinions of feminism and have (mostly) never been discriminated against in their lives arguing (mostly) men who somewhat understand what feminism is and keep using flawed arguments to explain their opinions about women's rights.
This very thread is the proof of feminism still being very much needed in our society.
As a woman, I am a feminist, because thanks to feminism I have a right to vote, to go to college and to write this message on this site. That doesn't stop me from being a humanist or whatever you people call yourselves. Being for
everyone's rights goes without saying, but you cannot fight for anyone's rights by simply claiming you believe we all deserve them. Yes, we do. Some more than others (for example, in today's society, homosexual people have more problems than women, and women have more problems than men). That's why there are specific groups fighting for specific rights and they are a part of a whole. Gay rights activists don't fight against feminists, they both fight for the same goal. Basically, it's like saying that you want world peace; that's a nice sentiment, but you will not achieve world peace without first addressing specific problems and solving them (world peace will not be achieved prior to achieving peace in the Near East for example. Should people that deal with Near East problems be yelled at for focusing only on one area?). In order to achieve the final goal (equality for all), you must solve the smaller goals first (equality for women, for homosexuals, for animals/plants/fungi/whatever). Therefore, feminism (and other -isms. Including -isms regarding rights for men, if you feel that men have a lack of certain rights). Example:
FelixG said:
I too am curious as to why it is ridiculous. Why shouldnt a father have all the same rights as the mother in such things? What if mommy wants to return to her job and daddy wants to stay home and spend time with their new offspring?
I agree with this. Why shouldn't the father have this luxury? However, people must understand, this inequality is
not due to feminism, it's due to the society that teaches us that women are here to take care of babies and homes and men are here to make money. This is
exactly the type of thinking that feminism fights against.