Douglas
Qualified feminsm. ("moderate feminism" "ifeminism" NAFALT "feminist but.." etc.)
by , 21st-January-2011 at 02:49 PM (1740 Views)
In a previous blog, I wrote about the distinction between feminism and women and why many women think they are feminists but are wrong. Here I address those who want to use the feminist label for meaning something good, often re-defining feminism in the process to something like "radical feminism" even though hardly anyone self-identifies as a radical feminist - they just call themselves a feminist.
I believe it is both incorrect and unhelpful for the plight of men to group females and feminists together and blame all women for feminism (and, by implication, not blame any men). That said, I encourage anyone - male and female - to distance themselves from concepts like "feminism" and "feminist" as much as possible unless you believe in female supremacy and have a distaste of men and masculinity.
I encourage you not to call yourself any kind of "feminist" unless you believe in the social illness that is feminism. Claiming that not all feminists are like that (NAFALT) may be true in specific cases but the reality of feminism is seen by its overall actions, not by any one individual.
Among the reasons to avoid the feminist label unless you are an unqualified feminist are:1) To achieve balance and fairness/egalitarianism in society, we have to undo all that feminism has brought upon our society (note: that is not undoing suffrage, nor equal pay, nor...). To be able to quickly undo everything that can be associated with feminism, it is important not to muddy what feminism is by using the same word for any other purpose.2) To those aware of the misandry and social damage caused by feminist ideology, there is a psychological effect on someone saying they are feminist. This can be seen all over forums such as Anti-misandry and Stand Your Ground when people say they are a "feminist but..." or a "moderate feminist" or an "ifeminist". It's not that people can't read, nor that they consciously ignore the qualification of feminism. But the emotional effect and the mental association with a damaging policy is made first, before any consideration of what might be before or after "feminist."3) If someone doesn't believe in at least some of the reality of feminism they have no need to associate with it at all. It is not in any way important that they believe in what feminists have sometimes claimed about feminism: if someone really is aware of what feminism is and disagrees with it, then they should also be aware that it has achieved its ends by lying.4) I've yet to find any variant of feminism that doesn't centre around the claim of "looking after women's interests." It's true that caring for women is important but why not also for men? Why is a woman's suffering more or less important than a man's? (If people on this site, in campaigning for men's rights and fairness for men, completely ignore women's suffering and do not care about suffering regardless of gender, they will fall into the feminist-conceived gender war.) While being aware of the gender inequalities around us, our campaigns should always focus on the rights of everyone in society, regardless of race, creed, colour or gender. It is gynocentric activities that lead to matters like disaster relief only giving food to women and letting men starve. Only in matters only pertaining to women - such as childbirth - can there be a real reason to concentrate only on women's issues.In conclusion, unless you really are suffering from having feminist beliefs, don't call yourself any kind of a feminist. If you're not sure, or you think that maybe you are suffering from feminism and are seeking help, then places like the Anti-Misandry web site can be a good place to help you understand about feminism and may be a first step to the cure. In the meantime, if you call yourself a feminist of any colour, you'll have to accept the natural and automatic "anti" levelled on any kind of feminist.
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