So, I came across this article by Anna Tippett, a woman who is supposed to be a Human rights activist, feminist, LGBT advocate and writer. The article was title "When Did Female Empowerment become so Disempowering?" and centers around a video that the singer Fergie made. The thing that struck me curious about the article however isn't the subject matter, it's the (most likely false) claim that Tippett is unable to understand exactly why some celebrities such as Kelly Clarkson or Lady Gaga refuse to call themselves Feminists.
As I have done before I am going to use excerpts from the post to illustrate her alleged confusion, and then attempt to explain it for her. Let's begin with this:
"Debates over feminism - whether we need it, want it, or like it - continue to provoke a variety of responses in popular culture. The contentious ‘f word’ has supporters and opponents in both obvious and unlikely forms."
"From self-proclaimed feminists like Emma Watson (convincing) and Beyoncé (not so convincing), to surprising adversaries like Kelly Clarkson and Lady Gaga who state that the word feminist is “too strong” because they “love men”, it is clear that the definition of feminism is highly contested amongst the celebrity folk."
"The misinterpretation of feminism by Clarkson and Gaga as an anti-male, exclusively female movement is particularly infuriating and shows how the construction of female empowerment by celebrities can be detrimental to future generations."
Here we see the first of and primary reasons Tippett is unable to understand how Feminism is a contentious word. She assumes Clarkson and Gaga are simply "misinterpreting" what Feminism means. Then Tippett goes on to claim:
"Feminism is for everyone: women, men, girls, boys, those who don’t identify with the female or male binary, straight, gay, bisexual and beyond."
Doing so in the guise of claiming an attempt to "clear things up" before going into her Fergie bashing article. But all anyone has to do is look at the comments made by Feminist activists and the merchandise target towards the Feminist consumer. Which is exactly what I am going to illustrate now. So let me say now to Anna Tippett, I am going to show you exactly WHY Feminism is such a contentious word, and why people like Clarkson and Gaga refuse to be branded by the term.
First let's examine the claim that Feminism is for Men and Boys. Let us start with Robin Morgan, former editor of Ms. Magazine.
"I feel that ‘man-hating’ is an honorable and viable political act, that the oppressed have a right to class-hatred against the class that is oppressing them."
Here is one example of why people like Clarkson and Gaga might have the impression that Feminism is about hatred of men. How about this quote from Linda Gordon, a woman who is said to be a Feminist and a Historian.
"The nuclear family must be destroyed… Whatever its ultimate meaning, the break-up of families now is an objectively revolutionary process."
As a supposed historian you would think Linda Gordon would realize just how important raising a child in a two parent how really is, especially given the fact that historically speaking children raised in single parent families are more prone to living in poverty, and becoming criminals. Anyone who claims to have the goal of "the nuclear family being destroyed" is not only someone who has no knowledge of human sociological needs but should never be called a historian. This idea of destroying the "nuclear family" also means, by necessity, depriving men of their parental rights. Unless of course you think this Feminist idle actually thinks women should be the ones to get the short end of the parental stick, which only an idiot would think. Because the destruction of the nuclear family means that at least one parent by default must be excluded from the raising of their children, and I seriously doubt she would consider that default position to be applied to women. She is a feminist after all, and as anyone with a knowledge of history knows Feminism is first and foremost about the rights of women before anyone else.
How about Sheila Cronin and her comparison of marriage, the act of two people willingly engaging in a social behavior.
"Since marriage constitutes slavery for women, it is clear that the women’s movement must concentrate on attacking this institution. Freedom for women cannot be won without the abolition of marriage." - Sheila Cronin
Given that marriage is not a state enforced institution based on a given trait that demands one party be subservient to another, it makes you wonder if Cronin even knows what slavery actually is. Judging by her characterization of marriage as slavery, I have my doubts.
"The institution of sexual intercourse is anti-feminist." - Ti-Grace Atkinson
Yet another example of an anti-male sentiments by another Feminist, and one I am actually wondering now if she believes only virgins can be Feminists. Let's have one more example of a quote that might give the impression Feminists hate men, shall we?
"Rape is nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear." - Susan Brownmiller
As abhorrent and vile as rape is, is it really any wonder why people think a group of people who consider all men to be rapists might be considered a group that hates males? Now, let's move on to merchandise targeted towards Feminist consumers. Let us begin here: Feminist Sweatshirt The obvious connotation being that if you don't have the proper body part you should be seen and not heard. Kind f sounds familiar to me, sounds a lot like chauvinists who felt that because women didn't have a penis their opinion doesn't matter. Then there's this: Feminist Shirt in which Identities.Mic is quoted as saying 'C'mon. Buy this shirt and "Treat Yo Self."' and is a clear indicator that Feminism is not about males at all. And then of course there is this Gem: Male Tears which is also provided with the comment "We shower in them too." and not the mention the plethora of Male Tears Cups that can be found at Lookhuman.com.
Given these facts, and the fact that Feminism opposed the the Voting rights act and the 14th Amendment simply because they weren't included when it was first proposed is all the proof you need to show Feminism isn't for everyone. Not the mention the protests and demonstrations held by Feminist groups every time there is a discussion planned to address the academic decline of males, the abnormally high suicide rates of males, and other male related issues.
If anyone needs further proof of the lie that Feminism is for everyone, all anyone has to do is try to talk about issues anyone other than women face in a discussion with a Feminist. 90% of the time you are told to "wait your turn" or told "this isn't the place to discuss that" as if they are trying to put you in your place.
The next time you wanna live dangerously try to bring into a discussion about the rape of women the very real effect false rape claims has on the believability of a rape victims claims and see how far you can make it before being assaulted. Or if you are feeling truly bold, try bringing up the recent study that showed rapes of males by females is almost as bad as female by males and see how far you get.
Feminism is thought to be a male hatred movement more and more as the years pass because the comments, writings, and consumer goods targeted towards Feminist ideologues is rife with anti-male sentiments. And that Anna Tippett is why Feminism is such a contentious word.
No comments:
Post a Comment