I know I linked to these already, but if you didn't already see them, here are two very good articles that pretty much encapsulate my problems with what are commonly known as men's rights activists.
I live in Connecticut, and I tend to surround myself with fairly liberal-minded people (at least, liberal-minded in relation to gender roles), so I don't usually get a negative reaction from someone when I identify myself as a feminist. But when I do receive a somewhat negative reaction, it tends to run along the lines of either "Feminists look down on stay-at-home dads. Would you marry a Mr. Mom?" or "Yeah, but women don't have to be drafted, so that's discrimination in favor of women. Shouldn't you support drafting women?"
Let me break it down for you, one at a time.
To the issue of stay-at-home dads. Would I marry a "Mr. Mom"? Um, why wouldn't I? I'll admit that right now I'm kind of on the fence about having kids. I think that's perfectly fine, given that I'm only 24 years old and nowhere near settled in life. But if I did want to have kids? Yes, I would absolutely want to have them with a man who's eager to take a more active role in parenting his children. Yes, I would absolutely be willing to be the "breadwinner," if we decided together that that's how we wanted to raise said hypothetical kids. I've had jobs since I was 15 years old. I'm used to paying my own way, and I don't expect to ever stop.
Along the same lines, I sometimes run into the expectation that as a feminist, I must be a hypocrite when it comes to splitting the check. I must still expect my boyfriend to buy me lots of shit and pay for me all the time. This assumption couldn't be further from the truth, and if you don't believe me, ask him yourself.
Now to the issue of the draft... For reasons unrelated to feminism, I believe that an all-volunteer military is really the best way to go, but if we did have to implement the draft? Yes, women should absolutely be drafted alongside men. Women have had a chance to prove themselves as capable and competent soldiers, and we have every reason to expect that women can serve their country through military service.
People also seem to have this idea in their heads where they automatically equate military service to fighting on the front lines, when that is not always the case. A lot of people seem to have a very narrow idea of what military service can entails, and while I won't profess to be an expert on the subject, at the very least, I realize that a person can serve in the military without ever seeing battle or having to kill someone.
This is all I wanted to touch on, for now anyway. :)
Like you, I am an atheist. Unlike you, I am NOT a feminist. ;)
ReplyDeleteI often suspect that vehement disagreement with feminism is more due to a misunderstanding of what feminism is. And then some people choose not to identify as feminists because they just don't like the word. Of course, some people, for whatever reason, just don't believe in equality of the sexes, which is too bad for them.
ReplyDeleteAt the age of 16, I would say things like, "I'm not some kind of feminazi!" I can only speak for myself, but I know that my virulent opposition to being labeled a feminist stemmed from a misunderstanding of what feminism actually meant. That, and I thought boys wouldn't date me if I said I was a feminist.
But as they say, whatever floats your boat, dude.