Monday, July 10, 2006

This is what a feminist looks like


From a comment:

What is a feminist ? I really have never come to grasp a concrete definition of this. I know that feminine = womanly, and then there is the -ist. I still don't get it.
And how come they are mostly ugly and lesbian looking. It seems feminists are the least feminine women


I think this was meant to be facetious, but it brings up some interesting points:

Is being 'womanly' in a 'feminine' way a good, bad or neutral thing?

Why does everyone think lesbians are all butch?

Why is a butch woman routinely stereotyped as being ugly? It's really not the case that these things are in any way linked.

I'm stumped by these attitudes, because I just see the world in a different way.

I'm somewhere between sporty tomboy and nailpolish girly. I'm ambivalent about the whole 'feminine' thing- I think it looks good on some people, and it's fun to have men look at you like you're irresistable. But, I don't want to personally suffer for beauty. Pantyhose sucks. At the end of the day, I'm sick of wearing an underwire and can't wait to take it off.

Men: try dressing up in women's clothes, a la Mel Gibson in What Women Want and you'll see what we mean. You'll gain a new appreciation for the unfairness of it all. If someone said you had to do it every day, you wouldn't.

And re: your obvious jealousy of lesbians, GET OVER IT.

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5 Comments:

At 12:26 PM, Blogger Joolya said...

yeah, i told my partner to imagine for one day that people were always looking at his boobs. he had no idea. he is a great, sensitive, insightful guy and a self-proclaimed feminist but still he has no idea.
sometimes i try to imagine being black or gay or something i am not, and although i know i can't possibly understand, it's an instructive exercise.

 
At 9:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sure joolya's "partner" is a stud. And I bet she's a knockout as well.

 
At 7:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

try dressing up in women's clothes, a la Mel Gibson in What Women Want and you'll see what we mean. You'll gain a new appreciation for the unfairness of it all. If someone said you had to do it every day, you wouldn't.

You're exactly right, I don't think we would. And then the expectation that we had to would die a well deserved death.

 
At 6:36 PM, Blogger avocadoinparadise said...

It's strange. As I walk around watching people in this 98 degree weather I can't help but be kind of glad and gloating that we can wear skirts and sleeveless shirts all summer to work.

These office working men all wear long pants, closed shoes, and long-sleeve shirts to work every day. Granted, it would be nice to spend less (no) time each day deciding what to wear to work, but I really value the ability to wear skirts and be cool enough on my commute.

Now I've heard the arguement before that women should dress more like men in order to gain the respect that those idiots get all the time, and I think that's wrong. It would make so much more sense for them to just start wearing less formal things. How about kilts?!?!? And leiderhosen. But I enjoy kilts much more.

 
At 9:14 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sarah Louise Parry: thanks for making it clear that you think all men are "thick as shit morons". Ever hear of the word misandry? In terms of moral bankruptvy it's up there with misogyny and racism.
BTW I'm reporting your comments to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner.

 

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