Misogyny and Sexism in the News

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Toughy

okie dokie here ya go...........

'certainly many/most of the radical feminists I have encountered think so'. What I mean when I say 'radical feminist' is the anti-porn, no penetrative sex, no adornment (make-up etc), no males over 5 yrs old, separatist lesbian kind of feminist.

I stand by the above. I don't think (as it is now written) it over-generalizes or stereotypes radical feminism as I have defined it.

I don't think clarifying what I said is 'toning it down'. I do get what you mean about the original statement, but if you still think that after clarification..............shrug.......we will just have to disagree

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Til now I had never run across anyone who claimed 'radical feminist' who did not fit the above description. Certainly, one can say it is a radical idea that the patriarchy is the root of oppression of women and 'radical feminism' as a big picture concept is fitting. I was thinking that within self identified feminists the ones that are radical are those who are separatist, anti-porn, sex negative, no penetration sexually, no males over 5 yrs old, etc.....we all know who I am talking about....

I did a bit of research and came across this basic definition of 'radical feminism' (I took Wiki's cuz they all say about the same thing):

Radical feminism is a current theoretical perspective within feminism that focuses on the theory of patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society into a complex of relationships based on an assumption that male supremacy[1] oppresses women. Radical feminism aims to challenge and overthrow patriarchy by opposing standard gender roles and oppression of women and calls for a radical reordering of society.[1]

Wiki defines feminism as:

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women.[1][2] In addition, feminism seeks to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist is a "person whose beliefs and behavior are based on feminism."[3]



I personally don't think it's a radical idea that the patriarchy is the root of oppression and the 'isms' in the world. Nor do I believe it's radical to think gender roles are harmful and we need to re-order society. I thought that was just part of plain old garden variety feminist thought.

Seems to me the reason we need feminism is the patriarchy so I have trouble understanding why that is defined as radical.

just nit-picking over semantics in some ways, I guess....

Your mileage may vary.......

Toughy, I am following you now.

Helps to keep the historical context in sight. We are both of the same generation and it was an entirely different world for women back then. Stuff that is taken for granted now, is stuff we had to fight for then.

Back then, many of the theories and thinking of feminists were considered radical for the times. By todays standards, the theories and thinking are less unusual, more mainstream, less radical in nature. Evolution is a wonderful thing.

And the extent of ones radicalism may have been expressed in any number of ways in an effort to empower oneself and women as a whole by rejecting various patriarchal ways as various factions saw fit.

My memory banks are fuzzy these days. But, it does seem plausible that there were anti-porn sentiments because porn was seen as exploitive of women.

Anti-penetration is ringing a distant bell. Then again, back then, even some unradical lesbians were singing an anti-pentration theme cuz it was unlesbian.

I dont remember an anti-sex thing but I do remember an anti sex with men thing i.e. dont sleep with your oppressor because it clouded your judgement about your oppression kind of thing.

I have no clue why there was a male cut off after age 5. Im not a kid person. Do boys change radically at 6 or something?

In our own individual evolutions, I suspect we could track the changes in our own thinking, perspectives, preferences, definitions. Wish I could remember that far back.