How Some Modern Feminists Are Destroying The Movement

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How Some Modern Feminists Are Destroying The Movement

by:

YoungStar_OneLove

Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 8:04:00 PM EST

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...and why hating men only sets us back further.

Yes, I am a woman, and yes, I do consider myself a feminist. I support women's rights and equality completely. This post is in no way trying to discourage anyone, male or female, from fighting for such important things.

First of all, we need to aknowledge that the feminist movement is not over. Even though we have made so much progress over the years, women still do not recieve equal pay in America and, in many places, have little to no reproductive rights. Giving up would be the worst thing we could do.

However, some feminists fight so aggresively for the cause that they do more harm than good.

Hating the gender that we wish to be equal to is counter-productive and only drives more people away from giving us the rights that we strive for. It intimidates those who might have helped us otherwise. That intimidation is why even some women refuse to be known as feminists.

"I'm not a feminist; I hail men, I love men," states Lady Gaga in an interview. Lady Gaga, of all people? She supports ending DADT and marriage equality, but not women?

It's not that, actually. Some modern feminists are known by many to be "man-haters" — and this, above politicians and laziness, is really what hinders progress. The few women who portray this image are, unfortunately, some of the loudest feminists out there. Why are the true "I-want-equality-for-all" feminists so quiet? Why aren't we paying attention to our shattered image? This will not be fixed by time. If we lay back and ignore it, feminists will soon become completely disregarded. We will be joked about (oh, wait...).

Positive action creates change, a passionate flame of progress; but ignorance and negativity are the winds that snuff the fire — and without the light it brings, no one can see the truth anymore.

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I think I see your point, but if Lady Gaga doesn't consider herself a feminist, then she can't be one of the "modern feminists" that you say is destroying the movement. I do agree though that because she is such a huge public figure, that many people will hear her say, "No, I'm not a feminist, I love men," and assume that being a feminist means hating men, and that is extremely unfortunate. So, basically, I don't think that it is us modern feminists that are destroying are own causes, I think it is misunderstandings about what feminism means, and as feminists, it's our responsibility to set the record straight.

Also, I love how she totally called the interviewer out on the double standard of his question.

# Posted By AFY_Samantha | 12/8/10 12:38 AM | Reply

I think it would be fair to say that, by definition, Lady Gaga is a feminist. She doesn't proclaim to be one, and yet she talks about how she loves that gay men can appreciate "sexual, strong women who speak their mind." I believe that is a feminist statement.

Modern feminists are destroying our own cause because some of us support and encourage the misunderstandings. Just recently, a friend of mine posted a status on Facebook about how much she hates men and, really, it only bothered people... including women. This friend of mine is feminist, too. The point I'm making is that it STARTS with us. The world observes our example, so we should set a good one for what we represent.

We aren't ALL guilty of this, of course - just a few. But it was really bothering me and I wanted to address the issue.

# Posted By

YoungStar_OneLove | 12/8/10 01:47 PM | Reply

Yes, I agree that Lady Gaga is a feminist, but I still disagree that "modern feminism" is hurting our cause. What's hurting our cause is the misunderstanding that being feminist means hating men. Feminism is about equality.

# Posted By AFY_Samantha | 12/8/10 03:42 PM | Reply

Maybe this is because I LOVE Gaga and all that she stands for, but I really don't think that her interview was relevant to the feminist movement, or that those two lines or so are enough to draw the conclusion that she does not support women. After all, she does say that she loves the gay community because they love to see strong, expressive women. What else is a feminist if not strong and expressive? Isn't she trying to counter double standards by producing the kind of music and videos that she does? She even pointed out the difference between a male rock star and herself, and the way her music is perceived because she isn't male. I think what she was trying to say was that she isn't a man-hater.

# Posted By

KarachiYWOCLC | 12/23/10 03:03 PM | Reply

I think most of what GaGa does is meant to be ironic. She plays up the superstar aesthetic in order to show you an exaggerated version of who the population wants her to be. Her purpose is to demonstrate the destructive effects of glamor and the poisonous consequences of stardom. For instance, anything she says is immediately either controversial or revered, there is no in between. She builds an image that forces you to either love or hate her. She even admits that she doesn't want people to take most of what she says seriously, but wants them to think about the effect of what she's saying. She's all about media awareness.

As for the "feminist" thing, I again maintain that it was meant to be ironic. She's playing on the idea that feminists are all lesbian man-bashers. That doesn't mean that she really thinks that way. She's making you double-take in order to remind you that you need to be doing your job to reevaluate the kinds of values we should all be working for as feminists.

# Posted By

miamcm9 | 12/28/10 10:49 PM | Reply

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