You are a Feminist, whether you acknowledge it or not, if you are

[efhmc]

female and vote (or you are male and think females would be allowed to vote), you think that men and women should be paid the same for the same work (Unless Kay Bailey Hutchison thinks she should receive less pay for her work as one of Texas' two lousy senators than her male counterpart, Senator Cornyn.), if you think women should be allowed to work outside the home (That's right that means the likes of those two insane right-wingers, "Dr." Laura and another of my own reps right here in Texas, the chiropractor, horse raiser and all round, "overdoses of aspirin cause more children's deaths than guns" insane Louisiana southern belle, and gun nut Suzanna Gratia Hupp.), if you take advantage of all the rights and privileges that other women (and men) fought and died for so you could work long and hard to put us back in our place. You are hypocrites, liars and deceivers. But whether you acknowledge it or not you are still Feminists because you are using all the rights and privileges that you were given by Feminists to undermine the rights of other women who will come after you. The rights that you use so freely label you as FEMINISTS!!!!

[canuckforpeace]

1. Right on Sister! n/t

[efhmc]

3. I am telling you, those hypocrites that use all the rights us old lady

feminists fought so hard for, to sabotage other women, make me want to go back and give make sure those rights never were extended to any one who voted for any repukes. However at the time, we thought our only enemies were men. How silly that was.

[Saffy]

6. "Woman's Inhumanity to Woman"; Phyllis Chesler

Speaks directly to this bizarre phenomenon.

"Women coerce dreadful conformity from each other. I would like us to embrace diversity. Then we could have a more viable, serious feminist movement."- P. Chesler

[efhmc]

15. Not familiar with this writing but it sounds very interesting. I will

pursue that thought. Thanks.

[shesemsmom]

2. You better believe it!!!

[efhmc]

4. Perhaps, since they are so against Feminists, we should see that they

don't have to have the shame and disappointment of using any Feminists' rights. That way they can go back to their contented lives as "protected women" with no rights or privileges except those that come from their husbands. Let's see how that works for them.

[Warpy]

13. Push Phyllis Schlafly back into the kitchen in a frilly apron

and tell her to start baking cookies? I love it.

I think the right fringe should put their money where they're lying mouths are and fire all those stink tank women, all those woman pundits, all those blow dried blonde bimbos on talking head shows, and certainly all those ladies against women in public office.

After all, If they can't control their OWN women, how can they expect to control us?

<sarcasm off>

[efhmc]

18. All the rights that were gained by those that were prosecuted and

maligned in their own times are now being used against progressive people. I think we should rescind all rights to these "feminists" and let them go back to the protected life they obvious love and cherish. As good, caring, liberal, people, we should give them that right.

[Booster]

22. But they already have the right to do that. Why do they have to

make damn sure other progressive women don't get to live the dream they are living; talk about being backstabbers - Dr. Laura and her ilk take the cake when it comes to backstabbing.

[efhmc]

26. I think that these "women" can only see themselves as valuable and

right through the eyes of men. This is why for them, even though they are themselves powerful, they still do not see themselves as valuable as people unless they are valued by men and for most of them this means controlling, right wing men. Sad but true.

[scarlett1]

5. A female Kansas State Senator thinks women shouldn't be able to vote

The Kansas State Senator who represents the district where I live believes women shouldn't have the Vote and said, She'd vote against women have the right to vote if it were an issue today.

"A prominent female state senator has said that she does not support the 19th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote, and that if it were being considered today she would vote against it.

Sen. Kay O'Connor recently told the co-presidents of the Johnson County League of Women Voters that the amendment was the first step in a decades-long erosion of traditional family values.".....

http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/local.pat,local/3acd030e.927,.html

PS she just got re-elected too. God, I HATE living in Kansas Sometimes.

[efhmc]

9. So why is this insane woman running? She really thinks she should be at

home or elsewhere (maybe in a harem)and not in public office. What kind of nutty group of voters elects a person like this? (No offense to you since I am very SURE you did not vote for her.)

[LisaLynne]

10. I think that's the sort of irrationality ...

that we are up against.

[sariku]

21. um... wow

That makes me as near to speechless as I ever am. By all means, let's go back to those wonder years of family values, when women stayed at home, and men were *real* mean ... and other annoying little factoids like how child and spousal abuse was considered to be "family business".

Does this waste of oxygen realize that she is a product of the right to vote, and if women didn't have this, then she would not hold her position?

[fnottr]

31. Damn, like woah, damn

If that was on The Onion, I'd have thought they were pushing their satire way too far that week.

[mandyky]

7. Not sure I agree with all of your post but

you pose an interesting topic. Women who vote are not necessarily feminists - many of the Christian Right women vote and I doubt they consider themselves feminists, and I sure don't (they believe in women eg wives submitting to their husbands). You also used the word allowed twice - no offense meant to you, but allowed by whom.

I am still scratching my head over a comment Ann Coulter made on Bill Maher's Real Time a few weeks ago - something about us ( Dems) believing women should vote - like she thought women shouldn't vote, but Bill didn't catch it or he chose not to follow up on it.

I agree with you that a lot of women in this country benefit from the women's movement and then slam Feminists. Do you remember the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas debacle ??- many woman made comments like if she couldn't stand the heat, she should have stayed out of the kitchen. The same thing happened around the Tailhook deal. I am personally shocked and offended when I hear women make these comments. I expect it from men.

Not all women who work outside the home do so because they feel they have the right, it is usually out of need - like having a disabled husband or being a single parent, as well as a woman wanting to work outside the home.

Thanks for a thought provoking thread!

[efhmc]

11. My point is that ALL of these women use rights and privileges granted to

them by the hard work of Feminists and since they are, so they say, not Feminists, they should not be using any of these rights and privileges in any part of their live otherwise they ARE Feminists.

[jdj]

24. they ARE feminists.

it would take us back a century to show them what their lives would be like without feminism, but we can't, which is why they don't think twice about voting against their best interests.

[efhmc]

33. Well said. I do not know if I am happy or sad that they cannot see what.

power and freedom the women's movement gave them. Independence and the rights that that entails means even idiots have power but boy does that power have a negative effect on the rest of us.

[Niccolo_Macchiavelli]

8. its all envy

repug housewife/hearthslaves are just jalous on other women's freedom.

o wait women quarrel im outta here ;)

[efhmc]

12. This problem is about all people: young, old, men, women, all

creeds and colors. One CANNOT use the rights granted them by leftists people to become right wing. The right wing must adhere to their principles and stay in the 1800's where they belong. Otherwise they must acknowledge themselves as the hypocrites they are and give up all the rights that others struggle to give them. (A tad of sarcasm.)

[WildClarySage]

14. The other day, a friend and I got into a discussion

of this issue when she said she didn't believe in feminism. I ended the debate by asking her what she wanted for her son that she didn't want for her daughter. She couldn't think of a thing, just started to yammer that she didn't like the label of "feminist" and I reminded her that she has the right to use terms like "feminist" without allowing others to pollute their meaning, and that changing her vocabulary to let others define the issue is how they get away with winning when the facts are against them.

[LisaLynne]

17. Oh, that's beautiful!

I was so proud of my mom at Thanksgiving. My aunt and her friend are so verbally against feminism. So, they were talking about how different boys and girls are and my mom jumped right in and argued with them -- about how we're all human and suddenly, these women started coming up with examples of how their boy and girl children were really the same, basically, in their abilities and all that. So, their reaction to any sort of equality between men and women was just a knee-jerk reaction and when asked to really discuss it, they are totally feminists, even though they don't know it!

But, that question is just perfect. I'm going to file it away for future use. :)

[efhmc]

19. God, I love you. Those type of posts keep me believing. Thanks a million.

[fnottr]

37. Reminds me of one time in High School

I think this was 10th grade, and we were reading a book that addressed feminism and such (I forget what book). Our teacher (who was male) started talking about feminism, and how all it really meant is believing that women should have all the same rights as men. Then he turned to the class and said, "So raise your hand if you're a feminist". It was priceless to watch all the 'manly men' jock types sheepishly put up their hands.

[efhmc]

40. Classic. What a guy. Lucky you to have such a fabulous teacher.

[WindRavenX]

16. We need to take back the word "feminist"

It's taken a dirty connotation, as many have mentioned. Being a feminist today is often misunderstood to mean "man-hatting" and "anti-family"; which it most certainly is not. Ever sense Rush started wailing on the "Feminazis", people have run screaming from "feminists".
I am a proud feminist, and I am NOT an extremist. I want my rights dammit!

[efhmc]

20. I, my daughters, my sil and my gdsons (only 3 and 1) are all Feminists.

I love the word and the concept and say it loud and often. (Well, of course, my little guys are not there yet but with the environment they are growing in, they will be.) Take back the word feminist and liberal and the US will be a much more moral place for all people.

[WindRavenX]

23. word

Congrats on raising such awesome boys :yourock:

[efhmc]

28. I loved your comment but I raised daughters and am the Grandmother

to 2 boys. Their good future is in the hands of a strong feminist mom and dad. I do my part on the sidelines.

[lgardengate]

25. I am an independant woman not a Feminist. heres why>>

I was a teen when the "womens movement" was going full steem. The Bra burners turned me off.I thought they were nutts.Bella Abzug (spelling?) really turned me off in a big way.I listened to her screaming,heard all the anti male insults,listened to the cops get called "pigs" (not just the feminists).I read some of Betty Freedan's(SP?)more unusual and less quoted stuff and i turned against the feminists.I believe in equal pay for equal work and for women being Able to work outside the home if they choose/need to.I also believe that a woman who stays home with her kids is also worthy of respect and honor and should not be dissed as "stepford wives".


JMO

[efhmc]

27. You might not have "liked" the feminists movement but if you believe in

the ideas that you say you do, then you are by definition a feminist. BTW, I am a strong believer in one being whatever one wants to call him or herself. So if you want to paint yourself green and call yourself a blade of grass that is okay with me, but we both know that you are still a human.

[lgardengate]

34. Can't ever call myself a feminist but..

Yea,i'm a human. (not green though):silly:

[efhmc]

39. Well, that of course, is your decision. I think you are reacting to

negative stereotypes. Much the same as people react to any stereotyping. For instance you cannot see or hear me and am I sure if you could you would not see me as a bra-burner. While I love, cheered and lived the movement, I never marched or burned anything. I stayed at home and did all the domestic things a stay at home mom does. But that does not mean I am not a Feminist. I always enacted with the people that I have come in contact with to teach and show them that a Feminist could still be a strong, polite, gentile, southern lady. Because being a Feminist has absolutely nothing to do with who I am but with what I am and that is a believer in rights and equality for all people, especially WOMEN!!!

[eridani]

29. Of couse the MSM portrayal of feminists is accurate!

How could anyone be so stupit as to doubt them!

[lgardengate]

32. All i knew was what i saw...and read

The Betty Freedan stuff was not all in the media.I had to read that for myself.I was always my oun kind of kid/teen/person anyway.Not easy to label.

[efhmc]

36. I was always a stay at home mom and that never made me one bit

less a feminist. Nor was I ever looked down upon by other feminists. The people that derided me as a feminist were other stay at home moms. They were the ones that used stereotypical molds for me and others. Feminists are the ones who believe that all women have the right to chose the life that is best for them, not some societal mandate.

[Saffy]

38. You're experiencing a crisis of perception

Everything you stated in your post speaks directly to modern day feminists. However, you were "turned off" by the more extreme actions and behaviors of those 2nd wavers that brought the term "feminism" to the American table.

Well, I've found myself "turned off" by some of the more militant pro-choicers out there, some of the more fanatical environmentalists out there, but it hasn't caused me to dismiss their respective movements on a grand scale just because I don't like aggressive protests or hairy armpits.

Ya know, the forest for the trees metaphor.

[mitchum]

42. Well, I certainly hope that you didn't take up a spot at a university...

since a higher education is not necessary if one's goal is to make a fortunate economic match (Oops! I meant marriage) thus allowing one the material LUXURY of being "a woman who stays at home with her kids"

Just what did you find radical in Freidan's work? Most, but not all, of her concerns dealt with the discontent of the upper middle class woman. Harldly a breeding ground for troubling, radical action.

[eridani]

30. The ones who don't like the label are cowards, pure and simple.

Willing to take rights that others win for them in the teeth of nasty conservative opposition, and then taking said opposition's characterization of feminists as the literal truth.

[lgardengate]

35. I gave MY reasons for rejecting the term...

At the time the MSM liked the feminists (at least it seemed so to me).
Had nothing to do with anything anyone else said.Just my own observations.I did not like the screaming Abzug etc, or the ainti- male stuff,the loony writings i read etc. Call me whatever you like.Most women my age and younger consider themselves feminists (except maybe the very young) but i choose not to.No matter what anyone thinks.My choise.

[Saffy]

41. That's just fine. Don't consider yourself a feminist...

...if you can't even bother to spell correctly or use coherent, grammatical structure.

This is not intended to be mean spirited, but if you're willing to post your opinions to the masses, and even go so far as to back them up with empirical evidence/personal experience, then have enough consideration to use a spell check before telling us that our perceptions mean so little to you.

[Swamp Rat]

43. I'm proud to announce here my undying feminism.

As child from a matriarchal family I am compelled to make a stand against the tyranny of men. :)

[efhmc]

44. Ah, but there would be no need or desire for tyranny on the part of

anyone if true equality between the sexes came to fruition.

[Swamp Rat]

45. You are wise.

Young Grasshopper listen. :)

[efhmc]

46. And except for those heart wrenching true pictures, you make me laugh.