History of Feminism

And men on the left think they are doing a favor by being "allies." And expect a cookie for it. Like it's so big of them. Fuck that. Be an ally in deed and action - like treating women as full human beings. Adjusting language when requested. So simple but so far beyond the apparent mainstream that it receives violent reaction on a supposed left board.

Men on the left, IMO, killed the feminist movement of the 60's/70's with the 80's backlash. It wasn't just conservatives who voted for Ronnie Raygun and Thatcher and their ilk. That was the people who considered themselves liberals who decided the minorities and women just wanted *too* much. I guess it was too much to ask of them to think of their partners as people and equals and not as another minority group wanting a "handout" or "special treatment." They wanted all the benefit of women's empowerment (think sex) without any of the change in thinking that comes along with that. Along with women owning their own bodies and freely choosing their sexual partners came the expectation that women wouldn't be punished for that. But men on the left are just as invested in slut shaming and controlling women's actions through collective threats of sexual violence. Because it's all still about men.

I consider myself a radical feminist. Much too radical for many. But what's so radical about that?

Why I consider myself a radical feminist: I would like society to move beyond the binary thinking of male vs female and think of human. But to get to that point, there's a lot of privilege that needs to be discarded. But to even point out privilege is to be "radical" - just look at the reaction to wholly mainstream feminist thought that gets posted here. I guess privilege, to paraphrase, will have to be ripped from their cold, dead hands.

And before anyone alerts, dead from the passage of time, not anything else. It's going to take the dying off of the Archie Bunker types WHILE AT THE SAME TIME changing the thought patterns of society.

The way to change the thought pattern of the younger generation is to be loud and to change the way people think. And that includes language. Language is thought. And if that's through those of us on the radical fringes being vilified and hated by those refusing to change, all the while, providing a new way of thinking to those coming up - well, that's the way it will have to be.

Just think back on what was acceptable even 20 years ago in other areas - the way language has changed alone will turn into change in ways of thinking. In ways of being.

So when someone says - hey, the President pointing out someone's appearance is not professional. Well, maybe someone watching and reading hadn't though about it, but now, giving it some thought, realizes - yeah - only women are subjected to that. Now, what they may not get is that it's because women's only value used to be (and still to some extent does) reside in her attractiveness to men, and not in herself. And that is changing . But to point out her attractiveness, or lack thereof, is unprofessional because of that... I think that leads to change.

So I accept the charge of radical and I will continue to point things out because the status quo only changes when we MAKE it.

Sorry to go off on a riff - just caught my attention