America still needs Feminism

[Quintessence]

REMINDER - this is in the Feminists ONLY section.

Every so often, the question comes up "why do we need feminism?" The assumption is that the battles have been won, and there's nothing else left to do. I have never understood that mentality as the notion that the battle has been won is rubbish, but in light of the recent presidential election in the United States, the nonsensical nature of questioning the need for feminism has been thickly underscored.

Here we had a candidate who spewed hateful rhetoric towards women and various minority groups, yet he was elected in spite of this unacceptable behavior. That so many voters were willing to look the other way on this (or worse, voted for that candidate to endorse it) is something I find deeply disturbing. It is, to me, the most disturbing thing about this election. The message this sends is that women are not safe, minorities are not safe, and all the strides we've made towards equality are more precarious than they should be. Whether it makes sense to do so or not, a president of a nation is looked up to as a role model for the country. We now have a role model full of regressive rhetoric on human rights, respect, and dignity.

America still needs feminism. Now, more than ever we need to stand up and remind people that no, these things are not okay, and no, they are not acceptable. Silence in the face of bullies and bigotry is endorsement.

Feel free to chat about anything related to the need for feminism, or the implications of the recent election.

 

[Laika]

I think the main distinction is between those who say women should have equal legal rights versus those who say they should have equal conditions. The latter is a much more radical position often treated as a form of "cultural marxism" in which the state actively intervenes in society to change conditions and behaviour or in ways that areas that are not typically thought of as political become politicised, e.g. Body-image and "fat shaming".

whilst the people often making these arguments are, shall we say, "not the finest representatives for the cause of free speech or personal liberty"- they do have a point. I think feminists need to ask big questions about the meaning of social change. The sexual revolution is nearly 50 years ago (back in the 60's) and we have to revitalise the movement and maybe give it a much more radical edge by aggressively challanging the boundary between liberty and equality.

We are still continuing the policies of Mao's Cultural Revolution in seeking to change people's ideas, habits, behaviour and conditions whilst such radicalism has disappeared from politics almost entirely. We seek a feminist utopia and yet are culturally prone to repudiate utopianism: I think that can fairly be described as a crisis of direction.

 

[crossfire]

I agree we need to continue bringing the cultural patriarchal nomos into consciousness for intelligent examination. Relying on cultural nomos that lie just beneath consciousness as being "self-evident" shuts down intelligence and reasoning and keeps people asleep. I would prefer a society comprised of individuals who are awake rather than sleepwalkers.

 

[whereismynotecard]

Clinton was judged so harshly for faults that were less than Trump's - whose faults seemed to be either ignored or embraced. The results of the election were like a double punch in the face to feminism - an unqualified, entitled, misogynist man won, and a qualified woman who worked harder to earn the job (and earned more votes) didn't win. That kind of thing is exactly why we still need feminism.