I'm sort of confused by what you mean by feminism-positive. You seem to be implying in the other thread that any point of view that promotes conflict is not good. I see some merit in that, but I also think conflict is a defining characteristic of human society. In saying that, I don't mean to suggest that we are at 'war' or that I spend the majority of my time 'struggling'. I'm actually pretty laid back despite my interest in politics. What I mean to say is that I know very well that my values go against the values of other groups in society, but I take a stand for what I believe in knowing that scare resources will be allocated towards the programs I believe will create a society where men and women can have equal opportunity regardless of their historical, class or racial background. I know in doing so that I will be depriving other groups of that power and scare resources. It is conflict.
To dismiss conflict or critical theory from feminism is sort of reminiscent to the 'bitchy feminists' dialogue that tries to dismiss feminist thought as being propagated by 'angry, bra burning feminists'. There is 'no relevance' to be found in feminism from this perspective. We are 'just' angry women with a bone to pick with men.
There is relevance though. I don't believe that all women (and men) have equal opportunity in North America (let alone in some third world countries!). Besides equal opportunity, I would also define feminism as theoretical discourses and practical action that is simply meant to empower women, and so long as there are women, there will always be feminist* discourses as our needs will always change as our environment (law, technology, medicine) changes. Human society is politics and conflict. You can ignore it if you want, but it doesn't change that fact.
* Some professors want to change feminism to womens' studies to put more emphasis on the need to address womens' issues as opposed to the politic of equal opportunity. I'm not sure how I feel about that one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Gubb  I'd like to hear about feminism from you guys. I'm particularly interested in feminism-positive points of view. (See this post for an explanation on this: How To Meet People Who Are Into Polyamory ) Feel free to say whatever you like about feminism, but as I said I'm particularly interested in those viewpoints, and I'd like to encourage long debates about feminism to happen in other threads.
I know there is the age-old problem with labels, but I think we've all heard that so let's assume here that labels are okay or can at least be used for the sake of understanding.
So tell me what your thoughts on feminism are. What does it mean to you? How do you live it? Why does it need to exist in this world?
I'm listening  |