Suffice it to say that I consider myself a feminist, and if your definition of humanism is that everyone should have equal rights, you’re a feminist too.
Ok, you confused humanist you. 
I am a feminist.
You know, this actually reminds me of something that happened to me while I was on the high school debate team. One of the judges commented, in writing, that my jacket should have more buttons. As in, “I can see the bottom of your shirt at the bottom, you need to get a jacket with more than two buttons.”
I was probably too young at that time to think anything besides “WTF?” at that written commentary about my debate performance that day, but now that I am reminded, I know that none of my male colleagues that day got commentary on the clothes they were wearing.
I’m not familiar with the ins and outs of debate, but in real life one’s appearance is at least as important as the content of their verbal message. A jarring appearance can be a real distraction. Maybe the guys nailed the appearance factor and you looked a bit sloppy, detracting from your overall presentation. I don’t understand why it had any more to do with the location of your urethra than with the color of your eyes.
I get the argument that feminism is about grinding away prejudices & discrimination against wimmin so they can get more than just lip service about being on an equal footing with the menfolk. But in my mind prejudices stem from the recognition of, and emphasis on, differences. Being different and equal is a balance struck more often by luck than by open-mindedness.
I looked sloppy because my jacket and pants set had 2 buttons instead of 3? That’s your argument?
Just going on what you’ve given–I’m assuming there was an appearance of your shirt being untucked, or of your jacket being too small.
I’m a guy and I believe in equal, respectful treatment. But I’m wary of isms and ists, and don’t call myself a feminist on that basis.
My interactions with self-identified feminist women tend to fall into two categories - either they love me, or they hate me. I’m not shy about speaking out against male privilege, but neither am I shy about speaking out against utter bullshit.
I had a feminist friend online who would constantly say things like “all men are potential rapists.” When it was pointed out that that was a sexist statement, she retorted that sexism was “power plus privilege”. In effect, saying women cannot be sexist.
And that overloaded my bullshit meter.
On the other hand, my best friend in the world is an angry feminist whose primary driving passion in life is feminism and gay rights causes.
Yeah, because if there’s any demographic that is unconcerned with their physical appearance, it’s teenage girls at State Quals. :rolleyes:
I can assure you I was not slumming it that day. And I can also assure you that none of my male colleagues have ever had official commentary on their score sheets reflect their manner of dress. But that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?
“I need feminism because my university teaches “How not to be raped”, instead of “Don’t rape!” at freshmen orientation.”
Male. I don’t consider myself a feminist, not because I don’t agree with equality of the sexes, but because there are too many militant feminists that I don’t want my views to be associated with.
A bit like caring about animals but thinking PETA are fucking nuts.
And the reason why I, as a male, should have people instruct me “Don’t Rape!” is what exactly? Should I be expecting “Don’t Murder!”, “Don’t Steal!”, “Don’t Physically Assault!” etc lectures too?
Ok. My point is invalid, you win. I am convinced there could have been no other motivation behind the comment than to belittle you out of debate club and back into home economics where you belonged. Shame on me.
We are now off the rails.
Second wave feminist. And what a trip that was!
I took the classes, did some campaigning, read the books. It really caused a greal deal of ambivalence as I am married and have a male child. I was surprised by the hostility some “pure” feminists had toward me for giving aid and sustenance to The Enemy.
So it became a useful growing experience for me. And not an easily resolved one.
I’ve come out on the other end of that all, found the good stuff, discarded the divisive stuff and come to my definition of feminism: Someone who supports women in making their own healthy lifestyle choices.
I’m a feminist. But the word is so loaded I never use it.
I don’t know if the comment was intended to belittle me. It was just inappropriate and not one that any of my male colleagues ever received. Could I have been the sloppiest hobo on the debate team and just not realized it? Sure, anything’s possible. But my charcoal pants suit from Dillards and starched white button down shirt is hardly the stuff of dressed-down legends. The point was that women are often the recipients of criticism based on appearances where their male counterparts don’t as frequently. Why did the judge make the comment? Because they thought they were helping? Because maybe I’d be judged higher if I had an extra button on my jacket instead of the measly number of buttons I had instead? I honestly have no idea. My anecdote just seemed to fit well with DiosaBellisima’s one about her girls getting weird appearance-driven commentary on their scorecards.
On any given weekend, I probably see 1000+ ballots (and I’m one of the people that reads through each one to get the reason for decision). This is my 9th season coaching. I can tell you that there is DEFINITELY a disproportionate amount of comments on the girls’ ballots about less serious things (their hair, how pretty they are, how they are dressed, and whether or not they are being “ladylike”- with that word used) than there are on the boys’ ballots. Sure, occasionally a boy ballot will come through with, “Your tie was literally hanging down to your knees-- you might want to work on that,” but it is in no way as frequent as, “You’re SO pretty! But honestly, your skirt was a little short/long/boxy/ loose/ tight/ purple/ polka dotted. . . so I have to vote for your opponent.”
Every tournament, coaches have to “lose” ballots to spare the kids this nonsense. I know for a fact that my students are all dressed professionally and appropriately, too, so those comments are definitely not warranted.
Also, I find the results of this poll pretty darned interesting thus far. Women: 72 consider themselves feminists, 6 don’t. Men: 21 consider themselves feminists, 3 don’t.
That would be interesting, but you skipped a line. Men: 35 do, 21 don’t, and 3 people say “Stupid broad, you forgot ______ (HA, TRICKED YOU INTO BEING SEXIST! jk!).”
You are, in fact, correct. Fuck, maybe I’m reading those ballots wrong, too.
In my defense, it’s goddamned early and I’ve taken a lot of cold medicine. That’s a defense, right? Either way, the point is that the results are skewed far differently between our male and female respondents.
I am an humanist.
I know many feminists who do not believe that men are equal to women. They believe that men are lesser beings.