Can we please retire the word "feminazi"?!?

[Anonymous]

not everyone on DCUM is highly educated or affluent.

and not everyone who is one is the other.

and not everyone who is one, the other, or both has any knowledge, common sense, or taste.

[Anonymous]

So no educated and affluent people might think modern feminism has gone a bridge or two too far?

Groupthink, got it.

[Anonymous]

I don't think education has anything to do with it. There are educated people on DCUM who think it's okay to mock lower class and less educated people, so I'm sure there are plenty of educated DCUMers who are okay with feminazi.

[Anonymous]

Not making a statement about the effects of groupthink on the opinion that anyone of any demo- or psycho- graphic has of modern feminism.

Just pointing out that, contrary to popular belief, not everyone on DCUM is highly educated or affluent. And if while some are one they aren't the other. And that not all have common sense, knowledge or taste.

No subtext. Sorry to ruin it for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It comes up in every BFing thread.

Because it is the perfect description of the breastfeeding nurse-in nuts. I like the word because it describes them so well.

I think this type of attitude makes the word that much more offensive. I guess it depends on the context. I'm not a big fan of being PC when it tramples comedy and makes the truth opaque. However, some people are just hateful and whatever words they use to demonstrate their hatefulness can be very offensive.

[Anonymous]

Feminist Dutch Jew here (I'm probably outing myself) with family that died in the Houlocost.

Words are just that. Words. Sometimes they are used for effect and they obviously got to you folks if you started a whole "ban the book" thread about it.

It's just a word...ignore it or don't.

[Anonymous]

@20:18 mark 2: I think where the civil rights, feminist, etc., movements went wrong is that in their minds, it's still 1950.

(On the other side, the NRA is the same way, can any of the gun rights folks name a SINGLE thing Obama's done to restrict gun rights?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a woman and feminazi is the same to me as soup nazi or grammar nazi. The only women who get called feminazi or those who try and impose their views on others.

I don't think feminazi is used when trying to put a woman in her place at all or argue against injustice. It is when they go overboard.

Then again I don't consider myself a feminist myself as I don't see myself as a victim /martyr. I don't see the world through oppression glasses and I don't dislike or try and minimize or vilify men.

::headdesk::

It's amazing to me that (presumably) educated women don't know the first thing about feminism, but yet enjoy the benefits of feminism every day of their lives. Sad, really.

Sad is right. Women who say they are not feminists are just defensive because they feel they haven't taken advantage of the opportunities afforded to them. Flame away, it's true.

[Anonymous]

Flame away on my post but I'm going to say it anyways. I can't stand the women who call themselves feminists but then freak out when their DH calls them a bitch after she calls him an asshole. As another poster pointed out, half the women I know who consider themselves feminists use the biggest double standard I've ever seen. If I call my DH an asshole, I really don't care if he calls me a bitch. We both used words we shouldn't have used. I don't call him abusive because that would make me abusive in an equal world right? So many of these threads are "I want to cheat on my DH" and the people write back, yeah your DH is a jerk, he doesn't help aroudn the house enough etc etc. Whenever there is a thread about a guy wanting to cheat on his wife, he's attacked. Yeah...really treated equally huh? I just feel like there are people who claim to be feminists but only want the equal rights that would benefit them, but also want to keep the inequality that makes them seen as someone who is fragile and needs to be treated delicately. Maybe I just have "poser femininist" friends, but it drives me insane.

I also feel, that unfortunately, the views on feminism have been tainted by people who take it to the extreme. I'm all for being able to feed my baby when he's hungry, but I also understand that if I pop my boob out in a crowded mall, some people are going to be uncomfortable. Which is why I try to find a more private place. But, I think the people who freak the eff out over someone being uncomfortable with it and then causing a huge commotion, have tainted what feminism is. Just my two cents

[Anonymous]

To the PP and the other poster talking about feminism somehow putting down men, etc. all these posts shows are your own misguided perceptions based on "friends" or breast feeders, etc that vary from your own. The core issue is feminism is a movement that like any movement has a wide variety of opinions and perspectives and there is no monolithic feminist. I have never met anyone who calls them a feminist in real life that hates men or does not want equality for all. The discussion about asshole versus bitch is just weird and I have no idea how that is supposed to diminish the feminist movement. Sounds like your friends have their own personal issues and to be honest no one should be speaking to their partner using any of those words. I just can't imagine you really thinking a feminist thinks it is ok to call a guy an asshole but would call him an "abuser" if he calls her a bitch-it just sounds like you are raving about your own personal pet peeves.

Back to the original term though feminazi is used by ignorant people and that about sums it up. They try to use an offensive lable to dimish what is being said when they can't match the discussion in an intellectual way. That is true for all name calling though. If we all lived in a different time or different area of the world where women did not have the rights we currently have I think this discussion would be quite different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Flame away on my post but I'm going to say it anyways. I can't stand the women who call themselves feminists but then freak out when their DH calls them a bitch after she calls him an asshole. As another poster pointed out, half the women I know who consider themselves feminists use the biggest double standard I've ever seen. If I call my DH an asshole, I really don't care if he calls me a bitch. We both used words we shouldn't have used. I don't call him abusive because that would make me abusive in an equal world right? So many of these threads are "I want to cheat on my DH" and the people write back, yeah your DH is a jerk, he doesn't help aroudn the house enough etc etc. Whenever there is a thread about a guy wanting to cheat on his wife, he's attacked. Yeah...really treated equally huh? I just feel like there are people who claim to be feminists but only want the equal rights that would benefit them, but also want to keep the inequality that makes them seen as someone who is fragile and needs to be treated delicately. Maybe I just have "poser femininist" friends, but it drives me insane.

I also feel, that unfortunately, the views on feminism have been tainted by people who take it to the extreme. I'm all for being able to feed my baby when he's hungry, but I also understand that if I pop my boob out in a crowded mall, some people are going to be uncomfortable. Which is why I try to find a more private place. But, I think the people who freak the eff out over someone being uncomfortable with it and then causing a huge commotion, have tainted what feminism is. Just my two cents

This misses the forest for the trees. My calling myself a feminist has to do with larger issues of equality, and nothing to do with my husband's ability to call me a bitch or me calling him an asshole. WTF?

[Anonymous]

I don't want to live in a country where we ban words. Yeah, there are people that I think are just crazy. There ARE people who I want to reserve the right to use the strongest of words for.

Words are for proving points. Words are for causing reactions....you don't read books to get the same old bland responses, or maybe you do. I hope that the user of "feminazi" is doing it either 1) to prove a point or 2) to be tounge in cheak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Flame away on my post but I'm going to say it anyways. I can't stand the women who call themselves feminists but then freak out when their DH calls them a bitch after she calls him an asshole. As another poster pointed out, half the women I know who consider themselves feminists use the biggest double standard I've ever seen. If I call my DH an asshole, I really don't care if he calls me a bitch. We both used words we shouldn't have used. I don't call him abusive because that would make me abusive in an equal world right? So many of these threads are "I want to cheat on my DH" and the people write back, yeah your DH is a jerk, he doesn't help aroudn the house enough etc etc. Whenever there is a thread about a guy wanting to cheat on his wife, he's attacked. Yeah...really treated equally huh? I just feel like there are people who claim to be feminists but only want the equal rights that would benefit them, but also want to keep the inequality that makes them seen as someone who is fragile and needs to be treated delicately. Maybe I just have "poser femininist" friends, but it drives me insane.

I also feel, that unfortunately, the views on feminism have been tainted by people who take it to the extreme. I'm all for being able to feed my baby when he's hungry, but I also understand that if I pop my boob out in a crowded mall, some people are going to be uncomfortable. Which is why I try to find a more private place. But, I think the people who freak the eff out over someone being uncomfortable with it and then causing a huge commotion, have tainted what feminism is. Just my two cents

It's interesting that your framework for defining feminism involves cheating spouses and name calling. I'm telling you, you don't understand it. You just don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't want to live in a country where we ban words. Yeah, there are people that I think are just crazy. There ARE people who I want to reserve the right to use the strongest of words for.

Words are for proving points. Words are for causing reactions....you don't read books to get the same old bland responses, or maybe you do. I hope that the user of "feminazi" is doing it either 1) to prove a point or 2) to be tounge in cheak.

This is how I see it used to. Someone in another thread just referred to themselves as a boobnazi because they are very pro breastfeeding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a woman and feminazi is the same to me as soup nazi or grammar nazi. The only women who get called feminazi or those who try and impose their views on others.

I don't think feminazi is used when trying to put a woman in her place at all or argue against injustice. It is when they go overboard.

Then again I don't consider myself a feminist myself as I don't see myself as a victim /martyr. I don't see the world through oppression glasses and I don't dislike or try and minimize or vilify men.

Do you really not believe that women do not deserve the same respect and opportunities afforded to men?

Absolutely I do - that does not make me a feminist. I believe in human rights - that every person deserves to be treated with respect and to be given opportunists regardless of gender. I do appreciate the efforts that the early feminists made to equalize our rights. Feminism today bears little resemblance to the early fight for equality. Read these boards - there is a huge double standard. Pretty much every relationships thread started by a man ends up in well it is your fault because you don't do enough for the woman, children and house. Every relationship thread started by a woman turns into the blame for all the relationship woes placed on the man and the woman is such a hero for putting up with a man. This similar thread is seen over and over here. I believe that women are far from perfect, can be equally as manipulative and controlling as men, and are every bit as responsible for their own actions as a man. I do not equalize women by belittling or putting down men or by portraying them as bumbling fools. I believe everyone - including men - deserves to be treated with respect and that disqualifies me from ever calling myself a feminist.

That's EXACTLY what feminists believe. That's pretty much the definition of feminism. Do you really not know that?

No it isn't. Every woman I have ever met who calls herself a feminist has a chip on her shoulder about men and feels as though she has been or is being oppressed. Look at how fathers are treated in family court, is there any push in the feminist movement for father's rights? No of course not. I am not a feminist and I'm okay with that.