History of Feminism

Last edited Mon Feb 3, 2014, 12:55 AM - Edit history (1)

Yes, men need to rethink how they speak to each other and treat their sons. Yours points are well taken. Women, however, are also capable of raising sexist men. I know a woman who takes no shit from men, yet she waits hand and foot on her 18 yr old son. He screams at her, insults her, swears at her, and she allows it. He has even beat her. I have witnessed him being abusive to his girlfriend as well. She has raised a son who will certainly abuse women. I'm not going to say this is all her doing. He has a father who doesn't live with him and he is exposed to all the messages boys are raised with in our society, but she has played a role. I know she has no awareness of any of this but will go to any length to make excuses for him, including lying. I think she is probably an extreme example, but I expect some other mothers may indulge some of this.

Fonda mentioned a panel the next day. I don't know if they mentioned specific ways to address the problem. It would be interesting to see if that panel is available online.

To get back to your point about men's changing, it seems to me the more they realize how much patriarchal norms hurt themselves, the more they will be willing to embrace change.