Posted on 06/13/2003 7:21:36 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford
A few questions about the feminist ideology - First, exactly what is the feminist ideology?
I think that it depends on who you ask. I think that the basic tenet originally could have been summed up with one word: "Equality". Personally, I think that many, if not most, women (for instance the IWF) still think that way - they acknowlege that there are differences between the sexes and ask to be treated separately but equally. Unfortunately, NOW has corrupted that message into "anything you can do, I can do better" and that's not always the case.
Does it degrade women? If so, how does it degrade women?
Going back to my first answer, feminism degrades women when "leaders" (or, I'd call them 'enablers') find out that in some (usually physical) cases, women, on average, cannot compete with men and demand that the current standards be lowered. Not only does this dilute the pool of people that are qualified to accomplish a task, but it also cheapens the success of the women who could compete on an even footing with men.
Fred Reed has done several excellent columns on women in the military. Fred tends to be fairly opinionated, and I don't always like what he has to say, but I think that he gets his facts right. This one might be worth looking at..... http://www.fredoneverything.net/MilMed.shtml
How (if at all) is it unfair in its treatment of men?
I think that the above-mentioned double standards are unfair. I also think that all of feminism is a pendulum - it was far in favor of men, then over-corrected in favor of women, and should eventually swing back.
Finally, I think that society changes by generations, not by laws and protests. By way of measure - my wife has her Masters and is thinking about her doctorate. My mother did not go to college, because "girls in her family didn't go to college". She went to business school, instead, and learned to be a secretary. My mother's mother didn't work because "Women in her family didn't belong in the workforce". It took WW II to change that attitude. Finally, my great-grandmother came to this country to escape an arranged marriage and worked as an indentured servant - two concepts that are fairly inconceivable today.
Change happens. Ya just gotta be patient. :-)
NOW is a classic case of the hijacking of a word. NOW has hijacked the word feminist and made it into something it was never meant to be.
IMO.
Agree 100%. Few rational people would disagree with the original tenets of feminism - equal pay for equal work, freedom from sexual harassment, or (going back a few years) the right to vote. I think that for the most part, these original goals have been met. The movement has been hijacked by radicals, or by people that have a radical posture in order to retain their power and justify their existence.
Quotes like "Men and women make equal pay, when position, credentials, and length of employment are considered" don't increase donations/member base/visibility/interest.
Quotes like "Women only make 78% of the average man's salary" do.
Are you looking for editorial ideas, or just trying to stir the waters? :-)
Both. I was researching for general ideas - but creating a great discussion thread is always paramount to anything else. ;-)
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