Re: Have Feminists Been Used To Exploit Women For Corporate Profit?
I was blunt, and purposefully so. The reason feminism has been able to continue is because people like you have contributed the vote and equality to current day feminism which is completely false. Current day feminism has evolved beyond equality into a political ideology which is more interested in promoting women's interests more then promoting equality.
Some things going on today under the label of feminism just isn't feminism. It's sexism. Case by case depending on the circumstances, of course.
I am a first wave feminist in every regard. I believe women should be equal before the law. Which means when a woman is convicted of statutory rape, she should be given equal punishment. And also there should be equal social condemnation of such acts. When a woman commits any crime, she should be equally punished as anyone else would be. This is not happening. Women are sentenced much less often and also receive lighter sentences then men for the same crimes. Many female sex offenders are not even forced to register as sex offenders, where as a man who is 19 has to register for having sex with a 17 year old.
Agree here.
I believe that men and women should have all the same oppertunities to become educated and successful working individuals in society. Currently, the education system heavily favors women. The statistics don't lie. 60% and rising is the figure of women who earn degree's from colleges. And there are still programs with heavy financial backing to help women thru college even after it has been proven they consist of the majority of those who attend and graduate. There is also a big push in colleges to equal not only the educational value, but the value of services offered. This is called Title IX. And is the reason why many universities have had to disband their male sports teams because they are being forced to offer 50/50 in the realm of athletic programs. Since they can't recruit enough women to sustain their male sports programs, many are forced to get rid of their male programs in order to comply with title IX.
So: here is the same case as reliance on welfare.
1: They identify a problem (in this case: fewer women were attending college and graduating)
2: They pushed to correct this imbalance.
3: The efforts were successful. More women attend and graduate than men in some areas (specialty and focus counts quite a bit, here. There are some lines of work - like primary education, nursing, and a few other things, that are stigmatized for men to do, so those areas are often populated by female students).
4: After the efforts were successful (this is the clincher) the push and focus didn't shift to reflect this success.
This #4: Stopping once the desired result is achieved - is the main source of issues behind support programs of any nature. If you don't taper off, ease back, or find a way to keep things in *balance* then things get thrown *out of balance* rather quickly.
Higher education is a very good example.
I am also completely baffled by the draconian law surrounding divorce. While women have been given all the tools to take care of themselves the law still heavily favors them in family court. Many times giving them custody and large sums of money. The man, many times, is left destitute without a home, and living in squalid poverty. If women are now equal to men then why have the rules in family court not changed since the 40's and 50's?
This stumps me, too - and we've seen a shift in *some* areas but it's still not a full balance reflected in the laws across the country. It's case by case, region by region - etc. Select.
The only reason I see is that feminism - the concept of gender equality and equal treatment - simply hasn't taken hold in every place as it needs to be. Some people, both men and women, push against the concept entirely - and some states simply haven't made it a priority where others have.
Feminism is the gasoline fuling our economic problems. It will be difficult to build a successful economy when we are so defunct socially. As a result of feminism, divorce rates are higher then they have ever been, single mothers are more prevailent then they have ever been.. And as a result of that, in the last 30+ years, crime rates have risen due to children growing up in unstable homes. There will be a domino effect, and the first few domino's have already fallen.
But no - feminism is not gasoline fueling our
economic problems. That's the weak, lazy approach to addressing our nation's economic issues and state per employment and so forth.
When it comes to the workforce: Issues at hand are rooted in corporate behaviors (outsourcing, for example) among a large number of other things. It's multi-faceted and complicated and simply pointing fingers at every working woman as if it's all her fault is not going to arrive anywhere rather quickly. (though I know you'll equate 'some women' and not 'all women' to this). This is evident ESPECIALLY when the higher levels of corporations and political circles are still predominately male-led.
When it comes to the topic of divorce rates. They're actually quite low when you look at the large scale of things. Last I researched those numbers (a few years ago) we were actually DOWN to a number near the 1950's divorce rate (this is the decade many people use as the golden scale).
And, let's not pretend that divorces are all female-led, or even led by only feminist females. Many men file for divorce, as well. And today - unprecedented in US history - there's a growing number of couples simply separating because of differences. No one was abusive, no one cheated. They just decided that they didn't want to be together after-all.
So while feminism might have started some things - or encourage some women to see their selves of some things differently - it's not the sole cause for many shifts in our society.
Would anyone actually expect a woman (or man, for that matter) to stay married to an unfaithful partner? A drug addict? An abuser? No - no one expects that. Yet often, in the past (due to social stigma, the inability for a single woman to sustain herself or her children outside of a marriage, even if it was a terrible way to live, etc) women and men both stayed married even when their lives together were like rotting fruit.
Is that feminism? Some might be - but I don't think all of that is. Some of that is due to people's inabilities to reconcile minor differences. Yet other cases are related to a rise in domestic violence. So on - so forth. It's very case by case.
You saying 'feminism is the fuel for our country's downfall' is just the same as extreme feminists saying that 'males are the fuel for our society's downfall' - which is entirely untrue.