I consider myself to be one. Anyone else, or am I alone masturbating in the dark?

Define feminist.

I think women are entitled to every right a man has, but that biologically there are things men are better suited for.

I can't stand girls they are always lying and bluffing. Then most of them are ugly and/or fat, and they whine. They also use up resources that people need to survive (like food) they are the reason there are so many people starving (without them, there would be 2-3 times as much food for everyone). I would prefer a world without them.

You will tell me I wouldn't be here without them, well, maybe so, but at least the people who are alive can live their lives in peace.

Go ahead and flame me on the flame board ;-)

Ironically, the only time I act feminist is when I'm womanizing. Bitches just love it when I'm feminist.

[This message has been edited by ChubZero (edited 03-03-2004).]

feminist - one who believes that women should have the same rights as men, not that women are better than men.

thats pretty simplified, but i think it does the job.

Feminist? Definitely a humanist.

Respect everyone that respects you and others.

<Long post below ... be warned>

Ah, the old debate ... reminds me of the fact that I live with two feminist women and at least one still thinks she's entitled to educate me on everything in life.

If you were to define a feminist as a person who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and men alike, then I'd have to say that yes, I am a feminist.

The problem, to be perfectly honest, is that in being a scientist and an engineer, I have to point out that there are some practical flaws with such an ideological concept.

For example -- there are what some people call bona fide qualifications for a given job or task. Firefighters, for example, go through physical training with certain requirements on upper-body strength and endurance. Somebody pointed out that the requirements as written were discriminatory against women, who for biological reasons do not have (at least on average) the same or the potential for the same upper-body strength. If I recall correctly, a woman sued over this in a human rights complaint and actually won -- in which case she was allowed to become a firefighter meeting lower physical standards, or the standards were lowered for either her or all women thereafter.

So it becomes, on occasion, a question of who is best suited for a particular occupation. We wouldn't call it discrimination if a man were to ask for equal rights to breastfeed an infant -- men simply aren't suited to the task. So why is it that when a given set of criteria happen to discriminate against women for reasons which are nobody's fault but nature's, that those criteria are called sexist?

For those who want to turn this into a debate on abortion rights, you can also browse through an article called A Man's Right to Choose by Thomas Lynch Milford. His arguments are interesting, to say the least, but illustrate how it is difficult to assign equal rights under the law to both men and women when men and women are so different.

Coupled with the idea of discrimination, of course, is the idea of reparation, which I absolutely disagree with. There is a clause, for example, in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which allows certain instances of un-equal rights for the purpose of ameliorating the circumstances of a historically disadvantaged group, or something along those lines (That is, for all intents and purposes, an Affirmative Action clause).

It's one thing to say that men, women, blacks, whites, Asians, Pygmies, Australian-aborigines, straights, gays, bisexuals, transgendered people, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Shintoists, Baha'is, Hindus, and everybody else are equal in principle and deserve equal opportunities both to better themselves and to prove themselves worthy at home, at work, or at play -- but it's quite another thing to say that because women or any other 'historically disadvantaged group' have had a rough time at the hands of the majority for thousands upon thousands of years, they should have the playing field tipped in their favor today.

Granted, everybody should have equal access to the resources available to them. If a white person can get a student loan more easily than a black person with the same grades, then that's wrong.

But to say that I -- a person who has never demeaned or oppressed a woman in his life, who has never owned any human property or enslaved any person of color not his own, who has never denied a person outside of the religious majority in his country the same rights as he, and who has never looked down on non-heterosexuals as sub-human or perverse -- am somehow responsible for the plight of said individuals and must therefore make some kind of restitution by a) having my job application given lesser consideration, b) being passed up for promotion, or c) being overlooked for a scholarship, simply because, by random chance, I happen to be white and male, flies in the face of the idea of equal rights.

Most feminists are called feminists because there's no term for a female misogynist.

I'm feminist but I hate the feminist movement in general is it is more femi-facism than civil rights and has a lot of hypocrisys.

Hating blindly because the opposition kicked you at one part of your life is quite weak. Other than that I respect feminists.

quote:Originally posted by SpecialK9:

Feminist? Definitely a humanist.

Respect everyone that respects you and others.

www.americanhumanist.org (http://www.americanhumanist.org)

i think women should have all the rights and responsibilities that men have. If you want me to treat you like an equal don't expect me to play the role of the standard male.

I am a feminist but I believe the bad comes along with the good. If there is something the men have to do like the draft even if we don't like it, it should also apply to us. We should be as equal as we possibly could be.

Out of curiosity, what does everyone think about passing over women (or other groups) when it is logical to do so? As in, if women were to statistically change jobs twice as often as men, would it be wrong to consider men's applications higher?

I don't think it is, ethically, but it still sucks equality-speaking.

I believe in equal rights for everybody, but I'd be ashamed to say I was feminist because some so-called feminists just hate men and want is to be opressed.

quote:Originally posted by Trippy_McGee:

Most feminists are called feminists because there's no term for a female misogynist.

I'm pretty sure there is a word, but I can't remember what it is. I know I've heard it before.

I'm a horrible chauvanist.

Feminism screws me at every turn.

I'd rather men think me stupid and incompetant. Let them do all the work that they pride themselves on so much for doing. They don't give me credit for it when I do it, and if they're forced to credit me for acheiving something in the male spectrum of activities, they call me a dyke, bitch, slut, brain, poser, or whatever else they can think of off the top of their penis heads.

I find it impossible to believe that men didn't realize that women are as capable as them. Of course, no one wants to be alone, and because men are naturally stronger than women usually it's been very easy for men to impose themselves on women. If you make someone feel scared enough to think they need you, they'll never leave.

America uses it to keep it's citizens, the Catholic Church uses it to keep it's citizen, the male side of the species has used it to keep the female side of the species under their thumb.

I don't blame them.

The different hormones, make men and women behave and think in different ways. Not to say that all women are the same and all men are the same, but to generalize with example: men tend to think more about fixing problems and women think more about avoiding problems.

Both equally usefull. But, both different.

The real assy part of the whole deal is how men have used feminism and suffrage against women. We still have less rights, less pay, less control, but now we get all the blame of having equal rights, pay, and control.

The day prostitution is not only legal, but considered a legitimate business, abortion is not only legal, but not guilted, the day all people of any race, creed, gender, and sexual orientation are accepted world wide as equally deserving of political, physical, educational, and spiritual power then, may be I'll be a feminist.

As it is, I think it's just a half hearted attempt to keep women quiet long enough to get them knocked up and fearfull.

Afterall, what eight month pregnant women isn't fearfull? What if the baby is sick? What if something goes wrong? What if she's attacked? What if she gets in an accident? What if her man leaves her? How will she support herself and the child on her own? What will a baby do without a father? How will she raise it alone? What if, once the baby is born, she can't have more children, etc... etc... etc...

Pfft, men have it so easy. I'm not intimidated at all. And I wish I could use that to my advantage.

But, they've worked it out so I can't.

Cheers,

Lost

quote:Originally posted by LostCause:

I'm a horrible chauvanist.

Feminism screws me at every turn.



The real assy part of the whole deal is how men have used feminism and suffrage against women. We still have less rights, less pay, less control, but now we get all the blame of having equal rights, pay, and control.

The day prostitution is not only legal, but considered a legitimate business, abortion is not only legal, but not guilted, the day all people of any race, creed, gender, and sexual orientation are accepted world wide as equally deserving of political, physical, educational, and spiritual power then, may be I'll be a feminist.

Cheers,

Lost



but by your statment of outrage at the treatment of women (and other groups), you are a feminist. Not all feminists are femanazis.

I'll respect a woman if she warrants respect just like any other biped.

quote:Originally posted by LostCause:

Pfft, men have it so easy. I'm not intimidated at all. And I wish I could use that to my advantage.

But, they've worked it out so I can't.

Cheers,

Lost

you can always spot a chicken shit. they love to get cocky and then immediately show you their excuse. its all talk. youre scared so you blame it on men. you use the history excuse, the baby excuse and the "we are just different" excuse. all worthless, all just more whining.

Holy shit, I'm agreeing with mrman and returning to totse for this one post just to tell you, LostCause, how dumb you are.

quote:

The day prostitution is not only legal, but considered a legitimate business, abortion is not only legal, but not guilted, the day all people of any race, creed, gender, and sexual orientation are accepted world wide as equally deserving of political, physical, educational, and spiritual power then, may be I'll be a feminist.



Why in the fuck would prostitution be considered a legitimate business? What does a whore do but get fucked by someone with money. Any woman can do it. If you own a pair of tits and a moist hole, your job is set for you. No effort, no work. I don't think it should be illegal, but it's not respectable. Abortion I also feel should be legal, but not guiltless. To have an abortion is to stop a human life from coming into the world. That's the simple truth of it. Even if you're pro-choice, you have to admit that you're killing a part of you that could have cured cancer. And you've killed something because you were careless or stupid (don't say anything about rape/incest/potential harm to the woman. That's not what we're talking about). And now what is this bit about maybe then you'll be a feminist? I don't think I even understand your point here; are you saying that you will fight for equal rights after they've been obtained? Seems a little stupid. You're just a dumb feminazi like the rest of them.

/\ no wonder people think you are a bitch, and quite rightly methinks.

so you claim that any chick could be a pro? would you do it? I think there are a lot less honourable and respectable professions out there than prostitution. Tobacco company ceos, neo conservative politicians are just two examples.

grow up

i am perfectly for equal rights for both sexes while taking into account their different needs, however i really hate the "men are pigs", "all men should die" type feminists, and these types of behavior void the whole movement.

I hate lesbian feminists 'cause they're so damn ugly

I love the bloodhound gang for their lyrics like that.

If they truely want to become equal with men then they should stop the "you're a big strong man, put out my garbage" type crap. Feminists by their definition are just as capable as men so they shouldn't inforce their sexist shit on us.