Is it Useful to Demand that Others Identify as Fem or Anti?

Question

It seems there is something of a trend in trying to get others to admit they are either feminist or anti feminist, and when they do, to attack that person on the basis of a stereotype of feminist or anti feminist views?

Is this in any way a useful thing to do?

Given that beyond the most basic of dictionary definitions, feminism is a very broad tent of ideologies, would it not be more iseful to simply ask what a feminist believes, rather than assume because she (or he) self identifies, they must therefore defend the ideas of any other self identified feminist?

By the same token, how can anti feminists really oppose feminism, when beyond the most basic dictionary definition, it is very nebulous what more feminism actually is?

Is it useful to ask others to identify as fem or anti, and if so, why?

Answer 1

It's true that feminism is a broad church, as the saying goes, but at least on this board the 'anti-fems' seem to self identify pretty quickly and to be more of a one note symphony, the 'arguments' don't change much ~ women are selfish and cruel, feminists get special rights that anti-fem women and men don't get, feminists hate men, feminists lie about not hating men ....

I could probably make a list, if it was wanted '10 most common anti-fem statements on Y!A'.

But seriously, I think most of it is probably simple polemic, and in real life the anti-fems are much more subdued. I'm sure they save their 'good' arguments up until they get on Y!A, which is probably what some feminists do, too.

After all, this place is primarily for entertainment.

Cheers :-)

Answer 2

I hate it when people label me a feminist because I am not a bowl-fed, traditional housewife. Anti feminist is hurled at anyone not adhering to the dogma from the top down.

Answer 3

Most people you can tell where they stand by reading thier answers, if you need some one to spell it out in big letters what orientation they have, you probably arn't that familiar with the Politics of the question

Answer 4

Nope - its not.  How can we openly regard a question or response if we preframe ourselves?  And, dare I say it...how can we learn if we don't open our minds....?

Answer 5

Name calling is not conductive to intellectual discussion.

Answer 6

Sure, never be embarssed of who you are. No one has respect for people who want to be all things to all people. Pick a side and defend your position.

Answer 7

No.  Several people are neutral.  You don't have to be one or the other.  I agree with aspects from both sides.

Answer 8

No because you have some that just don't care either way. How do you label them?

Answer 9

Labels are words that help us understand the world. However feminists absolutely love to play with the meaning of words in order to create a smokescreen for what they are really about e.g. expanding the definition of 'domestic violence' to include 'insulting a female relative' (as is the case with the new Indian DV Act). This means that 1/ men are flung in jail for no good reason, and 2/ feminists get to say how shockingly high the rate of violence against women is, based on the number of men insulting their female relatives. Obviously if the DV rate is so high, we need more laws and more feminism to defend the supposed victims.

And the term 'feminism' itself is another case of 'linguistic inflation': the broader you make the term the more support you appear to have. If a feminist means anything from 'a woman who hates men and fights for laws that discriminate against them' to 'a woman who wants equal rights to men' then you have stretched the word beyond all reasonable meaning, but you have inflated the amount of support you appear to have many times over. Imagine if the courts used the same word for 'murderer' and 'innocent bystander'? Yet that is exactly what we are expected to do: believe that the perpetrator is the same as the bystander.

Not being naive, I judge people by their actions, not their words. Feminists have been very vocal about what they think of men for many years, and I don't care if they point to the dictionary and say that feminism is about equality; by their own words and actions feminists have proved they are anti-male, and if you are putting women above men you are not promoting equality.

Words change their meaning over time. 'g*y' used to mean 'happy', but you would be an idiot to expect people to think you were merely happy if you said you were g*y.  (I mean no disrespect to g*y people by this).

Any woman who has been on G&WS for more than a week will have had plenty of time to read evidence posted by myself and others regarding feminism, and if they still call themselves a feminist they are either a bigot or a fool. Plenty of women have got the point, and those that cling to a word that has been so dragged through the dirt by the feminist movement are going to get tainted by the filth.

To those bystanders who call themselves feminists: if you sleep with the dogs you are going to wake up with fleas. Don't expect my sympathy for choosing the wrong side.