"The result of feminism is that women have been reduced to being nothing but sex objects"

[ismnotwasm]

The Sunshiny One uses this as a starting point for a bizarre post purporting to show that “feminism has also reduced many women to being childless careerists who must purchase other women’s reproductive capabilities.”

But let’s forget about Mary for now and take a somewhat deeper look at this whole “feminism reduces women to sex objects” argument — which only makes sense if, like Just Saying, you define the worth of women as consisting only of 1) sex and 2) “housewifely duties” like cooking, cleaning, and bearing children.

If you simply ignore all of a woman’s other abilities and accomplishments, and basically her humanity, well, I suppose you could say that the worth of a woman with no interest in cooking, cleaning, or children was “reduced” to sex.

But what a strange way to look at the world, to base your judgement of a person’s worth on a small subset of human interests and abilities and to condemn them if they aren’t enthusiastic experts in these pursuits. You might as well go around dismissing everyone who’s not a proficient accordion player.

The other strange thing about Just Saying’s argument is that it doesn’t even make sense on its own terms; it requires a willful blindness as to how the world works these days. Women make up roughly half the workforce today. Yet babies are still being born and raised. Meals are still getting cooked. Homes are still getting cleaned. It may not always be a wife in a traditional marriage doing all the cooking and cleaning and baby-raising, but couples — and single parents — are making the arrangements they need to in order to get all these things done.

http://manboobz.com/2013/10/14/sunshine-mary-the-result-of-feminism-is-that-women-have-been-reduced-to-being-nothing-but-sex-objects/

[MadrasT]

1. That is indeed a bizarre argument.

It is not either/or.

No one's value or identity is determined by their interest/ability in cooking, cleaning, bearing children or by sex. (Unless they choose to adopt an identity based on one or more of those things.)

We are human be-ings, not a human do-ings.

[ismnotwasm]

2. I was reading another thread

Infested by what I believe are probably a MRA or two and thought, "is this actually how they think?

Beyond strange; a kind of pathology. Not sure how big of an influence they are-- they kind of fit right in with your average misogynists; who certainly don't need to be a MRA, which is in turn is embedded in the social norm of sexism. In a way I'm kind of glad there're as vocal as they are, because looked at as parodies pointing out what sexism is and the damage it causes, they do have their uses.

[Squinch]

3. By "Just Saying's" logic, men NEVER had any other function. Because if the only

functions that count as worthwhile pursuits are cooking, cleaning and child rearing, men must have been completely useless, other than for sex, and feminism has liberated a few of them from their uselessness by introducing the idea that housework can be shared.

Another reason for us to be proud!