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Counteracting Female Anti-feminism as a Man

I recently got into a debate on Facebook with a woman who identifies very strongly as anti-feminist and who argues that 90% of what feminism does is detrimental to society.  Although she advocates for gender equality and stiffer penalties against those whose commit violence against women, she considers most of the movement to be ridiculous.  She also had this to say:

“I’m not marginalized anymore. I am a woman. I do not fucking belong to a marginalized group anymore.”

I just want to know how, as a man and therefore a member of the privileged class, I should go about tackling these issues appropriately.  I mean, if she says she is not marginalized as a woman, it would be very paternalistic of me to deny her lived experienced.

There is the argument that I should not engage in these arguments at all for this reason.  I’m mindful of some recent cases where members of a privileged class claimed to advocate for a minority’s rights but completely ignored their voices and thus further marginalized them.  However, it also didn’t feel right to just ignore the very powerful anti-feminism, since I believe that feminism is very, very important to our society.

So what should I do in future cases like this one?  Would the differing levels of privilege mean I should simply back away from this topic?  Or was I right to engage her as long as I was careful to respect her lived experience?

Transphobia in Pundit Kitchen

I’ve been following Pundit Kitchen for a few months now.  If you are familiar with I Can Has Cheezburger or FAILBlog, PK follows the same basic format, only the pictures are generally of political figures and pundits.  Frequently, the captions have a very strong political slant, and it generally takes a liberal slant to it.  But then you get images like this.

Look, I think she says some pretty horrible things, but I’m not going to dump on the transgender community in the process of attacking her.

Of course, the comment section is filled with people dumping on her appearance and her "coldness."  Only a few people condemned the image, and they were ignored.  It bugs me that a lot of ...

I’ve been following Pundit Kitchen for a few months now.  If you are familiar with I Can Has Cheezburger or FAILBlog, PK follows the same basic format, only the pictures are generally of political figures and pundits.  ...

Restroom Sign WIN

A while ago there was some discussion about sex-segregation in public restrooms. Some clever folk at my school put up these two signs:
These were put up at the entrance to the library bathrooms, which for most of the year had been unmarked.

A while ago there was some discussion about sex-segregation in public restrooms. Some clever folk at my school put up these two signs:
These were put up at the entrance to the library bathrooms, which for ...

Jon Stewart on Palin’s anti-choice stance

Jon Stewart offered his opinion on the Palin’s statements on her daughter’s pregnancy. It is one of the few times I have heard him make a serious statement without any attempts to make it comical. The relevant part starts around 4:00.

STEWART: They have said, “this is Bristol’s decision and we should honor that.” I have a daughter. The thing that…the reason I think this is fair game is, Sarah Palin is one record as saying she would veto abortions for women even in the event of being raped. So what she is in essence saying, “respect my family’s ability to make this decision, and elect me so that I can keep your family from ...

Jon Stewart offered his opinion on the Palin’s statements on her daughter’s pregnancy. It is one of the few times I have heard him make a serious statement without any attempts to make it comical. ...

Reality Bites Back

I have been wanting to say something about this for some time now, but it wasn’t until I read this post at Feministing that I decided to add my two cents to the mix. The show has already aired, but it feels good to have this out.

What triggered me was this ad for a particular episode of “Reality Bites Back,” a showed designed to parody typical reality shows:

I have been wanting to say something about this for some time now, but it wasn’t until I read this post at Feministing that I decided to add my two cents to the mix. The ...