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Dear Some Guy on my Facebook: As a woman, I found your Women’s Day “equality” post extremely offensive. This is a day where we should be sensitive to the kinds of things we write publicly, since women are killed every day by gender violence, caused by the sexism that is still well and alive in your post. When you start off your post on “equality” about how you’re “not really sure” why we “even need a Women’s Day,” I am here to inform you that in fact, YOU are the reason we “even need a Women’s Day.”
It is guys like you, who take March 8 as an opportunity to get up on their Facebook podiums and start preaching about equality to gain likes and ego-boosting kudos from friends and family, who also do not understand sexism BEYOND the vague notion they have of it and clearly do not give any thought to the entire rest of the year. You probably didn’t spend an ounce of time learning about sexism today, but still thoroughly enjoyed the praise you received from your sexist post. Your obvious lack of awareness about your own internalized sexism is why, instead of taking the time you took to write your post, you should have just went to the library and picked up a feminist or women’s issues book for March 8. That would really help us a lot.
Your attempt to “smooth things over with a joke” at the end of your post is another testimony to why we “even need a Women’s Day.” Quoting your outro: “…And yes. Your ass looks more then fine. #womensday.” Quick lesson on sexism: it’s not just the fact that you are objectifying us into single body parts, or even the fact that you assumed we wanted or needed your approval on how our body looks, or that you even assumed that you would be the one to give that approval, or that you even assumed by having what YOU deem as a “nice ass” would make us feel “empowered.”
Sexism pervades women’s every day lives and it becomes harder to notice when we are not educated, and therefore, it becomes impossible to stop. Fuck, fuck the Facebook likes. Fuck what people think about you. Go educate yourself.
—Signed, a Pissed-Off Feminist and Regular Girl Who’s Just Tired of This Shit
This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2016.
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.
OP, stop taking what people write on facebook so seriously. The majority of humans live in a bubble, a bubble which is impossible to pop with logic. Wasting your time being mad about dummys opinions is not worth it. Few people do nuance and fewer still have much empathy for others. Fuck what some people write or “like” on Facebook. Here’s a crazy idea, an idea I had years ago, an idea that has made my life better… Delete your Facebook account.
You live in a bubble yourself, op, if it took until Women’s day to gauge the character of people you “friend” on facebook. “Unfriend”, simple as that.
Hear, hear op sister!
In actuality willie _ j, facebook is a delightful window into how some people really think. One of my friends is a nice guy in person, but on fb he could be the supreme overlord of guys like the op describes. Thanks to fb I know he is not an enlightened man, he’s just a little boy in a sexist man’s skin.
Isn’t this behaviour common to both sexes? Yes. Will some others admit that? No. Is that an example of enlightenment? No. The pot needs to stop calling the kettle black; instead, try finding common ground. FFS, this argument can be likened to the Isreal/Palistine conflict!
It just goes around in circles forever. Some men are pigs, some women are constantly finding ways to play a victim. Fortunately for me, I don’t include any of these people in my life and *poof* the problem disappears. Douche bag men can go hang out at the sports bar and talk about whatever it is they talk about; new ways to objectify women probably. And entitled, condescending, ‘feminists’ can fill their apartments with cats and take all their bitterness out on their quilting. The rest of us can get on with our lives.
Huh. I often find that when people talk about equality, they assume, everyone gets a fair shake from square one. Which, is, of course, the height of privilege to think that way. As is saying “it was only a joke”. As is saying: “don’t be so sensitive”. So, what I gather from the people commenting is that they, too, uphold, half-consciously, inequalities. And have no ground on which to protest what I am saying.
@Oceanchick; To be fair some women are friendly and kind in person, then you add them on FB and find that all they do is spam feminist and other SJW propaganda.. with a tone as if all the straight white men on their FB are criminals lined up for the electric chair and the woman is a priest offering them salvation.
fragnol: Who’s being sensitive?
Isn’t it interesting when the situation is put into perspective? How things change… how reality differs from that which is alleged…
So, a mean boy said things on the internet that you don’t like, and people agreed with him, which you really don’t like and your response is to come on the internet and tell your story in the hope that people will agree with you?
YOUR ego is the reason why YOU need a “Woman’s Day”
Written by a feminist in Britain but still relevant. If we must discuss feminism on here, lets do it in a constructive way. No more of this “he said this”, “she did that” non-sense. This article is not a taxing read but I found it quite interesting. This article, in my opinion, is very pro-feminism … the woman who wrote it is very honest about her experiences and I can relate much more to her perspective (as it is much closer to what most of my female friends would say/think and I would also argue that it is closer to the majority of women as well AND that it takes more courage than blindly shouting ‘PATRIARCHY! OPPRESSION!’). If this is a discussion you really want to have, please give this article a read and share your opinion, whatever your opinion may be, and leave the emotional ranting and sensational accusations at the door.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/12045740/…
“Who, came one angry question, did I represent? I explained that I didn’t represent anyone but myself and that no one on the panel was speaking for any particular group of women because we, just like men, are all individuals and don’t necessarily all think the same way just because we share the same intimate body parts.”
“I was, of course, quite wrong about this. Indeed, there seemed to be some surprise and not a little crossness at the concept of anyone daring to dissent from the accepted truth. What sort of feminist was I, anyway?”
*Deleting peoples comments when they make valid points (without being disrespectful or using any kind of hate-speech) only makes it look like you are so insecure in your own belief structure that the very idea of someone challenging you is unacceptable to you. Congratulations, MOD, you fit the bill of every internet SJW ever and you not only lack credibility but also deny others (on your team) the dignity of establishing any of their own. Further, it is people like you that derail your own ‘movement’ as nobody outside of your own clique takes you seriously. But if you’re just in the game of mutual pats on the back, feel free to remain in your narrow reality.
Assuming this post isn’t deleted, I would be happy to continue this conversation further with anyone who has an opinion on the article I posted above. Note that people who disagree with the article, or challenge me, will not have their viewpoint stricken from the record by the moderator, nor will they be spoken down to or engaged with in an unfriendly way by me.
Categorizing “Offensive speech” is like tossing a pebble into a placid pond. The ripples just keep spreading out; wider and wider.
There is, I would argue, a difference between ‘hate-speech’ and ‘offensive speech’ — but you don’t have to use either on this board to have your comment deleted. It’s enough if you say something the moderator simply doesn’t like. All you have to do is articulate a valid point that flies in the face of his/her personal beliefs. (This should really be made more clear in the terms of use).
My problem with the moderation of this board is the “report” button. If you’re going to moderate this board, then moderate it, don’t just remove comments because someone pressed the report button. This is just a form of control, where one reader gets to control another’s opinion, anonymously. IMO, if you have to be a member here to comment, then you should have to be a member to report a comment, and it should be public knowledge which members are reporting your comments.
I, personally, like being offended, it’s what gives me the drive to speak up. Coasting through life on cruise control, expecting everyone to be represented by one opinion or set of values is much like living your life with your head up your ass. When you invite people of all stripes to come to a forum based solely on negative energy (a “bitch” forum), then you cannot expect all the comments to be positive in nature.
https://www.law.umich.edu/newsandinfo/feat…