If the term continues to turn people away, because it doesn’t mean what it obviously sounds like it means, then maybe it’s not beneficial to continue using it?
I don’t identify as a feminist, despite having many compatible views. That’s partly due to the counter-intuitive nature of the term, and partly because I seem to fundamentally lack the ability of group identification . My impression is that people hold onto the term because it acts as a shibboleth, a way of marking who “gets it” and who doesn’t, in-group and out-group. People acting surprised that the term strikes others as confusing is certainly a factor in that analysis.
I worry that many branches of feminism are either self-defeating, or that they perpetuate the conflict itself. The goal should be to reach a point where the concept isn’t necessary to distinguish, where it seems weird to suggest that men and women aren’t equal. Feminism seems too temporal, too dependent on historical context, rather than a set of universal truths or ideals. It drags that history with us, like a ball and chain, never allowing us to move on.
I think I agree with most of what you’re saying. Not to derail this topic with another hot-button issue but the Black Lives Matter movement suffered partially for the very same reasons you mention. The name itself was poorly chosen and easy to twist away from its original meaning; the group had no clear leadership, so it was easy for extremists, trolls and anyone else with an axe to grind to subvert it and the message the group put out wasn’t strong or clear enough.
Why not egalitarian? When the belief of someone is in line with something, does not mean they wish to be apart of that group. Just because i believe in reincarnation does not make me buddhist. Just because i want equal rights, does not make me a feminist.
Lol um…no, it definitely wasn’t an apology; I have no idea what you think I have to apologize for. At most it was an, “ok I should have been more specific.”
It used to be that way with feminism, who wanted their rights to be equal with men’s right. You know, the big ones like fighting in the army, or being able to vote. MRA or men’s rights activist, are men who want equal rights to women. It is kinda humorous how some feminists (not all of them though) see MRA as a sick and twisted anti-feminism. Egalitarian covers duties as well as rights. Your gender should not determine what rights and duties you have.
Side note, this topic comes back like a boomerang.
I’ve read most of this conversation (took me a couple of hours lol) and it’s quite interesting. As a female and one that frequents Tumblr (yes be afraaaaid : p) as an RP’er I come across these kinds of topics a lot. On Tumblr I rarely ever contribute my two cents because I play a character and tend to avoid those things on my blog but I’ll try to jump in here.
Gems of War is the game in the fantasy genre I have the least problems with. Sometimes particular designs do make me roll my eyes and whenever I look at my hero too long I always think it would be really painful if someone hit her breasts with an arrow or something. That armor doesn’t do much for her. Note how I use third singular instead of first. I cannot relate to her at all whereas in some other games I can make a character I relate to. But does it all hinder me from wanting to play the game? Nope. I as a lot of others would find it cool if there was more diversity though.
Games in the JRPG genre on the other hand, really turn me off. I love the genre when it’s done well but there’s too much oversexualized stuff in it. I wouldn’t mind scantily clad females in and of itself, it’s to be expected from these sort of games but sometimes it gets really ridiculous. Losing clothes when fighting? Groping and ‘motivating’ (aka bdsm without the part where it should be consensual) often minor girls is a line I personally don’t want to cross. I know it’s all fiction, but for me that’s disturbing. Even then, I’m not one to advocate for censoring or banning. I don’t believe in that kind of thing when it comes to fantasy. There are obviously people who enjoy such a thing and who am I or anyone else to say they shouldn’t? As long as they don’t do it in real life.
Completely off topic, but thanks to reading this thread I now understand why there’s been so much flak for the appearance of the Flash in the CW show… He’s not the buff kind of superhero he is in comics and pales in comparison to the Green Arrow in the physical strength department. And somehow that makes him less suitable to be a hero??? I don’t know the statistics but I think it was mostly men arguing about that and now I can see it’s because of that ‘ideal version’ of a man they want to see. Never mind that The Flash is supposed to be about speed anyway? The physical strength he has comes from using his speed behind his attacks. It makes a lot more sense for him to look like a lean runner instead of some buff fighting type in my opinion. Another complaint is that he whines too much, that he’s too open about his feelings, and they condemn him because of mistakes he makes when ruled by his emotions. Well, geeze (spoiler ahead) you try having your parents killed in front of you then. See if there’s one man who wouldn’t get emotional over that.
Sorry, things like that get me ranty ^^’ I’m obviously for equal rights for men and women and not to have any unrealistic things expected from both genders. I used to call myself a feminist when I was a teenager but now I’m not sure anymore. That term I came across here a few times ‘egalitarian’ might be a better fit for me. Because it annoys me how extremist a lot of so called feminists can get. To the point of being offputting. Same with some SJW’s in general but that’s a can of worms I shall not open.
I’m all for equality and being considerate of everyone’s feelings etc, but not to the point extremists do… Something extreme of anything is probably not a good or healthy thing.
Sorry if some of my speech is illogical or doesn’t make much sense. English isn’t my first language and I tend to have a weird sense of logic sometimes ^^’
Sex sells simply enough. Though, its mainly marketed in GoW towards males. Females do not get their share of hot pixels to stare at. I will say some of the female characters have bigger chests it seems like then their entire body. And I wonder how they walk around. And reading through the posts some equate the representation of sexy male pixels as needing only to be buff. I tend to like a bit more than muscles … If males get huge breasted, bikini clad, women. Give me a buff, thong wearing, well endowed, male character to drool over.
. My impression is that people hold onto the term because it acts as a shibboleth, a way of marking who “gets it” and who doesn’t, in-group and out-group. People acting surprised that the term strikes others as confusing is certainly a factor in that analysis.
