I'm confused about Feminists?

OK I can see why your confused, many people are.

Like all politics's, movements or social gathering there are different branches of feminist.

The bad connotation's that are tied to feminism, are mostly from the 70's and there are still some radical feminist around today. The were/are against men, marriage, SAHM's ect. Some even went so far as to want female world domination. These women(never heard of a radical feminist man) are only a small part of the feminist group, and most feminist really dislike them if not straight up hate them. Yet when people speak badly of feminism, these are the women they are thinking of.

The Majority of feminist are not this way at all. We believe that men and women are equal. that women arnt better then men and men arnt better then women. Feminist fought for the rights of women to be able to vote, work in any job and get equal pay for it, right to an education, etc etc...it's scary how recently many of these changes have been made. Like equal pay..just happened in the early 90's. There is still the need to protect these rights, and many women in the world have NO rights...not even the minimal human ones like the right to say no when men wish to destroy her body (FGM) some are property to be bought and sold or killed if her owner wishes.

This is what feminist are still around and fighting for.

We are NOT man haters, against SAHM's, against mothers or for world domination or special rights for women.

As others have said, feminists simply believe that women and men should be treated equally. Most of the people who think feminism is so terrible probably agree with that basic principle, but are biased against it because of some of the negative stereotypes associated with it. A lot of people assume that all feminists want special treatment rather than equality, which simply isn't true. Some feminists are like that, but in my opinion they go directly against what feminism is meant to be.

To me the word 'feminist' means that women are thinking for themselves and about what is best for them. This doesn't mean being selfish - just expecting parity with men. Since Eve 'tempted' Adam (why didn't he say no??) women have been relegated to second class citizens. This is changing slightly in the West as we are mostly out there competing with men in the workplace rather than relying on them to keep us at home. But there isn't equality - most working Mums still do the majority of the housework and there are glass ceilings at work - far too few women in the Boardroom. What can we do? Just keep working at it! Why do people think it's so bad?? Women don't think it - men do - because it's in their interests to keep us at the sink.

If feminism in practice was the same as feminism in theory I would support it 100%. However the feminist movement has taken the idea of equality for women and taken it as a platform for prejudice against men http://nzmera.orcon.net.nz/femqotes.html

phony campaigns about inequality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtjaBQMog0Q&feature...

and promotion of special rights for women only http://men.typepad.com/mens_hour/2005/07/vawa_open...

Notice how hard some 'feminists' here shout down voices of dissent? They can't let go of their cherished ideal of feminism and face the truth of what feminism has become.

Feminists are concerned with women's rights and place in society. Whether they're good or bad depends on how they go about achieving those goals.

Feminists who only want the same rights for women and men are good.

Feminists who think women should get rights over men for "all those years of oppression" are bad.

The second kind are the controversial kind who get the media attention, which is where the bad connotation comes from. In my experience, many people who call themselves feminists in real life without it coming up fit into the second category as well, most people don't think about things like this on a day-to-day basis. The average person would be in the first category.

I would like to say that the very essence of feminism is equality and for any movement to advocate and further its cause it has to act according to the times and the circumstances.

There are many schools of thought in the feminist world and they like the rest of the scoiety are split between selective and universal application of equality.

To apply equality universally means to eliminate gender disctinctions which is a little too advanced for our times.

To me personally having known many of them i think it is safe to say that the real underlying reason for the movement was and is still freedom.

What is debatable is the cost and the consequences of this freedom!!!!!

Look up the term in the dictionary.

You'll see that at heart, it's simply the idea that women are human beings -- not some lesser species; and that women should not be treated as inferior or as property.

That's it.

The bad connotation comes mostly from those who hate all women for being women. They like to collect quotes from the small minority of those who call themselves feminists, who male-bash. They then say that all feminists hate men.

They are morons; please don't listen to them.

Just as Americans who hate the ideals of America, such as rule by law and freedom of speech, yet call themselves 'patriotic' do not actually change the meaning of the word 'patriot,' those who are really female supremicists don't actually change the meaning of 'feminism.'

So, if you're aware that women are human beings, you are a feminist.

All feminism means is the belief that men and women should be equal. I think everyone should be a feminist and not be ashamed to say it. It gets a negative connotation because of a few extreme feminists who hate men. It gets a negative connotation that same way that 'religious' sometimes does.

Following are the traits of feminism

1) Hypocrisy

2) Lies

3) Earn Special rights by declaring themselves as victims.

4) Double speech. Say one but do exactly the opposite.

Depends on your perspective.

Historically (like back in Susan B. Anthony's day), feminists (they weren't actually called that at the time) championed simply giving women the same right as males, like the right to vote.

That movement was very noble and honorable.

The feminist movement of today, however noble in it's inception, has caused far more harm than good, and has long outlived it's purpose. I am speaking specifically of the US, as that is my base of experience.

Fast-forward to the 1960's and 70's and it became more about sexual freedom and realigning the roles of men and women, much to the destruction of the American family.

Women were told the lie that they could "have it all"! Sex with whomever they pleased, a career, a family, etc. Like it or not, men and women are different than one another. I don't say better, as there's no doubt in my mind that a woman can do anything she sets her mind to, but to pretend we are the same is simply stupid.

The ones really hurt by the 70's version of the movement were children. Divorce rates soared because more and more women didn't want to be tied down to being a housewife and/or wanted their husbands to be uber-sensitive Alan Alda types. Then for those families that did stay together because Mom had a full time career, the kids ended up being raised by nannies.

Again, don't mistake my words for sexism. I don't care who stays home with the kids; the husband or the wife, but it SHOULD BE ONE OF THEM, although children biologically need breast milk for the first 6 months, so it really should be the Mom initially.

Kids needs to be raised and loved by their parents, not a hired stranger. Men and women have roles to play, especially when it comes to parenting, and if career is the most important thing for both members of a couple, then they should chose to NOT have kids.

Feminism taught women to be selfish, and confused the heck out of a few generations of men who forgot the inherent roles that men and women were designed and biologically bred to play.

There are also off-shoots of the movement that are actually anti-men, but they are kind of few and far between, but they certainly don't help the more mainstream version of the movement.