Comments on: Is feminism obsolete?

By: Betty

Betty — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:55:41 +0000

A conservative woman can be a feminist. I know several personally. But Sarah Palin is not a feminist, I'm not even convinced she's conservative. Sarah Palin is a not very bright crazy person who looks good when in front of a camera.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:54:28 +0000

Feminism is certainly not obsolete. There are still huge disparities in the way men and women are treated.
I'm reminded of the last presidential election, when people wanted to focus on Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin's fashion choices more than they wanted to discuss their political views. I think this is just one small, but clear indicator that feminism still necessary.
Also, I think we have to honor the women who have fought for equal rights in the past who called themselves feminists. The word has a lot of history, and I think it would be ridiculous to abandon it now.

By: carey

carey — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:06:03 +0000

i am just saying to my knowlege more white woman have done the best under affirmeraction than any other person or persons in this country.

By: Terry from West Texas

Terry from West Texas — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:25:50 +0000

Feminism is clearly obsolete. All of this equal opportunity stuff is from a previous century. First of all, women do not need equal pay. There would be fewer divorces if women realized that they could not support themselves without a man. Besides, all women need is a little purse money to buy cosmetics and lingeree. It is the man who should support his family. Does anyone think it is a coincidence that the rate of divorce went up when women found out that they could be independent.

Secondly, a woman does not need a college degree. Housekeeping isn't exactly rocket science, and higher math is not needed to buy groceries.

Thirdly, feminism convinces women that they are the intellectual equal of men, when science has proven that female IQs are about 5 points lower than men. Even the president of Harvard pointed out that women do not excel in math due to evolution.

Fourth, feminism is so passe. What modern girl would want to be tagged as male-hating? What kind of girl do men want? A hottie who doesn't give him any crap. He doesn't want to play chess or discuss books with his little lady.

OMG, feminism is so sixties. Come on girls, get with the fashion of the day.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:05:51 +0000

Feminism? Woman are the least equal group on the planet. They used to say men of quality respected a womans equality. However, there is a tremendous shortage of "men of quality". The daily news shows that to us in startling reality. Madoff's on numerous levels stealing money from the elderly and the already poor. High and low profile crime in such extensive numbers , that people have almost become numb to it.

There are some woman involved in these crimes as well. But percentage wise there is NO comparison.

There need to be some very tough laws enforced against scum bags . We could call it the national scum bag act, where total lack of character will eventually get one moved to live out their life on a remote asteroid.

By: mjf

mjf — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:09:24 +0000

Matt...the last part of your statement.... "I am ALL FOR gender equality, but not double standards. When women have the same set of expectations of themselves and their own gender as much as they expect from men, then REAL progress will have been made."

As much as is expected from MEN? Are you kidding me? how many hats do you wear? men are still only holding the same expectations that they have for centuries...go to work and come home. watch t.v. and be the protector of the family. Women are the ones with more hats than ever, we are expected to do all of the things in a day that old fashion traditional expectations held PLUS go to work and earn money. Not to mention the social pressure put on us to always stay 'prettty' and 'hot'. We feel such need to compete in every area of our lives. At work and at home and in general society, hell we even make the mistake of competeing and putting eachother down.

I think men like you need to wake up and realize how much a modern day woman does in a day and how little the views and expectations of men have changed towards helping women balance their lives by helping with the workload at home and stop looking at women as sexual objects. and to quote you again...

"then REAL progress will have been made"

By: Kristen B

Kristen B — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:53:53 +0000

Feminism isn't dead as long as women continue to be raped, beaten, forced into sexual slavery, working for sub-average wages, the list goes on and on. The conversation about feminism isn't dead as long as colleges,communities, and women's groups continue to hold forums surrounding women's issues. Feminism does not have to be the so called "militant" feminism of earlier waves. The women who align with the political right are still feminists by definition even if they don't see eye to eye with more leftist movements. I am by no means a republican, nor do I support most republican versions of feminist movements (pro-life etc.), but I do feel that as women, we need to join together and rediscover the concept of sisterhood, and stop letting political ideation destroy what little progress we have made thus far.

By: Norm

Norm — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:07:46 +0000

There's little doubt that since the rise of feminism and the entry of women into politics and business that America has been in decline. I wonder if there's any correlation?

By: Christine from Ocean City, MD

Christine from Ocean City, MD — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:22:27 +0000

Yikes, what a fierce debate!!! I think feminism has to include a valuing of anything women choose to do or be, and as well, it must value all things that used to be considered traditionally female (for example, I would come to the defense of a male nurse or a stay-at-home dad who was being criticized).

As a mom, I have noticed that in general our society criticizes moms pervasively and endemically. I am either too strict with my kids or too lenient, and probably both. Hah! Yes, we have a ways to go before feminism can become irrelevant. That is the goal, I suppose, but we're not there yet! Thanks for the great question!

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:21:06 +0000

Here is a test for those in the United States:

1. Name one LEGAL (that means under the law) right that men have that females do not have? 2. Name one LEGAL right that females have that men do not have? 3. Name one LEGAL responsibility that men have that females do not have? 4. Name one LEGAL responsibility that females have that men do not have?

Now let's talk equality. Equality is about both rights and responsibilities.

The old difference in salary argument is debatable because there are studies that show it exists and ones show it doesn't exist. Not that this is about legal rights; it is about how organizations compensate employees. The interesting thing to me is that the ones that show it does not exist do tend to be more scientific. Hmmm!

Feminism today appears to be about a vocal, misandrist whining by females and some men.

By the way, I use "men" and "female" as a mirror for how most news organizations refer to human males and human females, saying "male" and "woman".

By: billy Bob

billy Bob — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:14:41 +0000

feminism 1960 = "equal opportunity and pay for the equally qualified, regardless of geneder"

feminism 2009 = pro-lesbian, pro-baby killer, man-hating gender Amazons.

Yes, feminism is dead as in it is not going anywhere else but the historical graveyard.

By: soosie

soosie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:12:05 +0000

Feminist, women's libber.... what does it all mean anyway? I look at some of the women on TV these days – on Flavor of Love, The Cougar, The Bachlerorette, or any rock video and I ask myself, is this what we burned our bras for? I look at some of the women in my local Mall who's choice in clothing shows they have no modesty or self-respect and I ask myself, is this what equality means? I see dozens of women everyday who have breast enlargements, face lifts, butt lifts, and I ask myself, what happened to becoming the best PERSON you can be?
Sometimes it seems that instead of all of us becoming more like Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, etc, we have become more like one of the guys. Shallow.

By: Julia Anne Callahan

Julia Anne Callahan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:05:57 +0000

I think women are still fighting for equality in the workplace, in the household, and in society in general. I don't think they will ever give up.

There will always be women who are dissatisfied with the status quo. So I don't think feminism will ever die.

I guess it is wrong to exclude Sarah Palin as a feminist. Just because she is pretty? Or are there other reasons to exclude her. How could you seriously exclude her when she is a governor and a past vice-presidential candidate. Personally, I think she is shallow and ridiculous, but I would not rule her out as a feminist. She has succeeded in a male dominated arena.

By: A reflection on the f-word « Dating Jesus

A reflection on the f-word « Dating Jesus — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:08:20 +0000

[...] by political ideology. It's a welcome change of discussion, because frankly, I get tired of this kind of thing, the eternal death, burial and resurrection of feminism. We are not post-feminism any more than [...]

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:57:16 +0000

Matt, no feminist is responding to your comments because they are a little ridiculous. Is you idea of equality really women paying for dates as often as men, or women asking men on dates as often as they get asked out, or your dad receiving as many gifts as your mom on holidays?

Your example of female teachers getting a "slap on the wrist" may be valid example of women getting a lesser sentence than men for equal crimes. And I do think that kind of equality is unfair and should change.

As for your "heavy lifting" example. I am certain you are not so ignorant that you do not see how men often are built with more muscle mass than women. And that in our culture, hard labor has been a man's job, not because women just "don't want to do manual labor" but because their bodies may not be able to do the amount of hard labor as a man's.

But you other examples of inequality are minuscule in comparison to the inequality women face in the workplace, not to mention the sexism in our society which contributes to prejudice, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other atrocities against women. These are real issues that are cause for real conversations. The amount of gifts your dad receives on holidays and the amount of dates you get asked out on are not. I am not sure why you believe that men are so often "victimized" by women, nor why you think that feminists are not willing to receive equal treatment in all forms, even if that requires us to relinquish these so-called "perks" you can't shut up about.