Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 12:05:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Eva-Lise Carlstrom <eva-lise@efn.org>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: "feminism"
In-Reply-To: <199809030037.BAA08929@alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk>
Steve wrote:
> "Feminism" may not mean just one thing. But, with only a very few exceptions
> (like Christina Hoff-Summers, Camila Paglia, etc, who get hounded out of the
> feminist movement by the sisterhood as not being "true" feminists), the
> different streams of feminism are, for the most part, dominated by the
> following assumptions:
> 1) Women are the moral superiors of men;
> 2) The "patriarchy" is responsible for the oppression of women.
> Women have no part to play in the creation of patriarchy.
Steve: As several people have noted, there are indeed a wide variety of
philosophies, beliefs, and objectives that call themselves by the name of
"feminism". When I was in college, I came to the conclusion that I was
not a "feminist", but an "equalist". Since then I've changed my
perspective, having realized that just because the name is about women
doesn't mean that it necessarily implies female superiority (or sole male
fault). If I say, "I am in favor of women's rights", I am not thereby
saying "I am opposed to men's rights" or "the only reason women have any
problems getting the same rights as men is that men oppress them". While
there are some people who would say those things, they do not follow
inevitably from the statement "I am a feminist". I hold arguments about
individual claims of feminists (or anyone else) as separate issues from
the validity of "feminism".
--Eva-Lise Carlstrom
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