I've been thinking about other social justice movements in comparison to feminism

[boston bean]

and it occurred to me that feminism is probably the only social justice movement/group that isn't influenced by the patriarchy.

We are an outlier, and we tend to keep feminism based on womens issues from a women's perspective.

I think this might be why people are so hostile to the movement, it is the most impervious to the patriarchy, and therefore can be very threatening to some. I also think it may be the reason why feminists are constantly being tasked with fighting every single other issue along with feminist issues, or else, the movement is claimed by some to be discriminatory.

Think about it, it's a good way to water down the movement with criticism that no other social justice movement has to tolerate. Is it because the patriarchy has so little influence within feminism, and this is one way to exert its will/power?

Thing is most feminists are happy to lend their voice, a hand, their support to all equality struggles. But we would like to be able to focus on womens issues foremost. Is that toomuch to ask?

[niyad]

1. of course it is too much to ask, how DARE women actually focus on themselves, as if they MATTERED.

how very uppity and sexist and snobbish of them.

[MotherPetrie]

2. K&R So true.

[UtahLib]

3. The word selfish comes to mind.

Since the beginning of time, those in power have been successful in defining the role of women. As daughters, spouses, mothers, etc., society has viewed the ideal woman as the selfless equation in any relationship. I think that, in part, explains the hostility toward the feminist movement. It's uncomfortable for some to see women breaking from what has been determined by the power brokers as the ideal role of womanhood. Labeling feminists and feminism as a selfish concept is just another method of attempting to retain control and keeping women in their "place".

[Squinch]

4. I think this is true. I think there are two groups:

There is hope for the first. They are the ones who have absorbed the cultural attitudes towards women and see them as just "how things are" and haven't yet had their "holy shit" moment where the light goes on and they suddenly see that discriminatory attitudes towards women are fundamental to our culture, and they are everywhere.

There is hope for them because they may still have their "holy shit" moment, but until they do, they just don't see it as such a big deal, and they think the feminist's time would be better spent fighting discrimination they do understand.

There is no hope for the second type. They invariably think they understand feminism just fine and think they support it, but they tolerate and participate in forms of discrimination against women that they would not tolerate if those forms of discrimination were being used against, say, people of other races or religions or sexual orientations. They say that they support women's rights "when it counts" but only they are allowed to determine "when it counts." If women disagree with their determination of "when it counts," they are angered and think the women are behaving like spoiled children, not grateful enough for the support they are giving. They say they support women's rights, but in the next breath say that women need to shut up about discrimination they experience. They point to their own relationship as proof that they are successful in their support of women, but don't understand that their relationship only works as long as "their woman" tolerates their intolerance.

These are the ones who are, underneath it all, scared to death. They see a new, huge, group of people competing for things that only they used to be allowed to compete for. The role they see for themselves has become obsolete, and they don't have the imagination to come up with a new role that doesn't depend on their primacy. The underlying motivation with this second group is to get rid of that competition, and hold on for dear life to their unfair advantage.

[ismnotwasm]

5. Feminism is diverse

And is influenced by patriarchy to the extent that it is the dominant social system with live under. When other 'isms' become a part of feminism, as our very diversity makes inevitable such as racism, Feminism by its very nature, has the tools to battle it. And I for one will.

And society changes; I have a dear Trans-gender friend who just sent me a invitation to a ERA action event. She's taught me a lot about what it's like to be trapped by gender roles from a very different perspective, yet there are feminists who would deny her this right.

In the main, I agree whole-heartedly, as woman's issues are my primary purpose for activism, every single political issue, I look through the lens of feminism. It's how I'm made, it's my one shining purpose, it extents to family and friends and co-workers.

It's when we see how social injustices affect women that cause feminists to act. I think that gives the appearance of differing interests or taking up 'other' causes, but it doesn't work that way for me, in a literally sense.