Toward a better understanding of feminism
Vache Folle has a marvelous post on the topic of feminism: Wherein I Claim to be a Feminist
Over the years, I have been challenged by the concept of feminism and what it might mean to be a feminist. In an academic context, feminism might encompass a number of approaches to sociological phenomena, and a long overdue attentiveness to the activities and interests of women has been a boon to the social sciences…
As a normative concept, feminism is a little harder for me to grasp, but I have developed an evolving set of values and commitments that I regard as “feminist”. I am committed to increasing awareness of how my own actions and assumptions might be oppressive or disrespectful to women and, when it is consistent with other values, to alter my behavior and attitude appropriately.
I have to admit that I still tell the occasional blonde joke when I’m not really paying as much attention to my attitudes as I perhaps ought to.. But, then again, I do a lot of other stupid things as well. I’m working on it.
Although opponents of feminism often correctly identify authoritarian strains within feminism, they consistently fail to identify similar tendencies among themselves. It is perhaps a moral duty that radical anti-authoritarians ought to choose to voluntarily shoulder to note that contamination by statist attitudes and ideas ought not to condemn a set of beliefs that are not in and of themselves fundamentally statist.
In a truly free society, neither authoritarian feminists nor authoritarian Christians will be able to force the general populace to submit to their policies — but there will, no doubt, still be churches and there will still be people who respect women as equals.
Related reading: Libertarian Feminism: Can This Marriage Be Saved?
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