Is feminism becoming an obsolete movement?

[The Dharma Bum]

meh the concept of "rights" is an arbitrary legal fiction. It doesn't really matter that much how the idea was arrived at, only how it is applied.

[H. Muir]

. . .

[The Dharma Bum]

law is a product of the human imagination as well

Just an idea to be taken up or left behind, as one sees fit.

[eric]

I'd agree with the OP, but not because we don't need feminism (and I really dislike using that word, since I think all of these things should be lumped into: EQUALITY), but because of the OP link, feminism is looked at as a joke, instead of the good movement it once was.

[Hyperion]

The concept of chivalry also protected women from being implicated in many crimes and engaging in dreadful combat. The idea of a patriarchy is nonsensical because unlike race-based slavery, gender roles developed to separate the different ways women and men produced valued labor in civilization. There was a time that men could be charged for a crime his wife committed. Obviously nowadays that has become mostly archaic with the availability of birth control and less labor-intense professions, but the problem is we still adhere to many of our stereotypes about men, not women. Girls are taught to succeed in whatever they want whereas boys (if they survive education without an overdosed prescription of amphetamines) are still scolded for looking at particular fields like primary education and nursing. Worse still, they have to constantly watch their backs over allegations of being a pedophile.

Feminism is about promoting women's rights, not gender equality. The term is implicit in that goal.

[exploited]

What do you mean by feminism?

If you mean the ideology that concerns itself exclusively with the plight of women, yes, I'd say it is largely irrelevant (in the First World). Most systematic barriers have been broken down, and there are very few people who believe women are inferior to men, at least when it comes to non-physical tasks.

However, if you mean the ideology that is opposed to gender roles, and the imposition of "desirable" qualities based on gender, I'd say feminism has never been more relevant. Look at how transsexuals are treated. Look at how men are still subjected to rampant sexism, as Comrade has pointed out. Look at how powerful women are portrayed as "manly," as if aggression and assertiveness are "male" qualities. Look at how both genders are made into stereotyped commodities and used to sell capitalist goods.

To me, we've gotten to a place where feminism isn't and shouldn't be about any one gender... the evolutionary next step is applying lessons learned to everyone, whether male, female or somewhere in between. Right now, the Men's Rights Movement is being viciously attacked by feminists... sometimes for good reason, but often simply because a certain breed of feminist is hostile towards anybody who doesn't fall in line with their agenda.

To me, the distinction between male and female issues is an artificial distinction that is very damaging to gender solidarity. There are systematic barriers and inequalities that are offensive to men, and they need to be addressed before the much larger problem of gender roles can be looked at seriously. Right now, however, these issues and those that point them out are being shouted down even when they are legitimate.

[Hyperion]

I don't think anyone here is comfortable with current attitudes towards sex and gender. But I would argue feminism historically has not been about gender equality but rather the promotion of women's rights, and mostly the rights of white women at that. When the most relevant feminist organizations like NOW are known for their exclusionary tactics towards men - as we saw in the 2008 election when the organization criticized anyone who voted for Obama over Clinton as being sexist - I don't feel comfortable identifying as a feminist. I'm not arguing that all 'waves' of feminism have been misinformed, but there has to be a reason why even women are disowning the phrase in statistically significant numbers.

Gender equality is all good. I don't see many feminists out there truly promoting that message, though.

[The Dharma Bum]

[eric]

[exploited]