RateItAll: The Opinion Network

This statement is absolutely true.

We'll they are just going to have to wait their turn. I believe the Cultural Elite are ahead of them, as are the ones drafting the Gay Agenda, the Progressive Ideologues, the Chinese, the Religous Right, the Free Kidney Illegal Immigrants and the Left Handed Mathematicians for Jesus. Besides, the Typical White Males still haven't finished screwing things up totally. They'll need at least one more decade.

Somebody please tell me what a "typical" feminist is? It's a fair long way from being a monolithic movement, and contains a pretty broad spectrum of opinion.

I don't doubt that there are some feminists who want "positive control," whatever that obtuse phrase means, but there are competing and conflicting opinions within the movement.

True. It is the main agenda of the feminist movement.

UPDATE: With all the unhelpfuls, you femanists certainly aren't giving me a good impression! I must of hit another nerve. ORIGINAL: I would have to agree with this. Most feminists come across as being so harsh and arrogant. They are not doing their gender any favours. With them, it really is a battle of the sexes, which it shouldn't be. I can understand women wanting to be equal, which they originally were in the beginning when God created everything. But wanting to be better then men, throwing away Bible verses they don't like such as the role of husband and wife in marriage and wanting to dominate everything and not having any consideration for their husband is going too far. In some areas, women actually have more rights then men eg in child custody battles, it always seems to be the women the courts favour.

Any woman who freely seeks equality to a man, lacks ambition.

Of course women want some control over the factors which govern their lives. There is nothing wrong with that. Just who SHOULD be involved in deciding what gender equality means? Is that a 'Men Only' club? It is, I think, a natural and logical progression that many feminists look beyond fighting for this right or that right, and wish to enact changes in the society in which they live. Threaten or challenge the unspoken rules in a society which determine what role models are given to young girls, what attitudes to women prevail as acceptable, and you are liable to be ostracised. Normally, people will have taken these rules for granted, they will have internalized them and it is often taken as a direct affront to suggest that someone's internalized value system may be in need of review. But revision is important. The emancipation of African Americans, female suffrage, all of these required changes not only in the law, but also in the society in which these laws were enforced, in people's attitudes; these were good changes, and the sense in the society of what was right and appropriate changed. Are we in the magical generation now where we are 100% there with women's rights? I don't really think so. As an example, high flying female executives can earn as much as their male counterparts, but as a rule, does the mediocre female worker earn as much as the mediocre male? That is a real equality question. As a father of two beautiful and intelligent girls, who will all too soon be two young women setting out on their own, I applaud and support the women who work to improve the fairness of the society that will mold them, form the expectations others have of them, and dictate the rules of play in their lives. And yes, take some control, girls!

I have three daughters. They have all benefitted in measurable ways by the efforts of feminists who have pioneered for women's causes. As has my wife. Today's feminists are continuing a gallant and necessary fight. Unfortunately, organizations like NOW and NARAL (among several other left-wing oriented attack groups) are viewed by the majority of American moderates and the entire right-leaning contingent, as having become a single-issue cause (legality of every/any abortion protected by Roe v. Wade) which happens to be one of the most divisive issues of our time. As a result, the cause of feminism has been co-opted by abortion zealots, of which there are many. Real feminists should be insulted that these people call themselves "feminists. " They are anything but. There are so many accomplished, competent, strong women to whom the term "feminist" does not apply anymore in our political vernacular. That's too bad. There is more work to be done and many true feminists experience resistance to the good work that they do because of the abortion zealots (in the name of feminism). But the work goes on, behind the scenes, outside of the spotlighted cat fights over abortion. The glass ceiling is being shattered all over the country. One other point. It always struck me as strange that American "feminists" never really took up the cause of the oppressed women of Iraq and Afghanistan. I've never understood how a worldwide organization, claiming to fight for the improvement of conditions for women the world over, could ever oppose either of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. NOW's message to those women always looked to me like, "keep those burkas handy, girls, we're pulling out first chance we get. "

It also should be mentioned, based on some comments made, my own included, that feminism is not a monolithic movement, nor are all feminists man-hating braless bull dykes. Some feminists do have real vendettas, however many others, myself included, simply want the right to make choices for ourselves and our families without bias based on gender. Is that so radical? Anyway, how crazy of me to want to be paid the same amount as a man doing the exact same job. What could I be thinking??

I sincerely doubt that the author of this list knows enough feminists to decide what defines a "typical" one.

To reiterate kamylienne's point, the negative or positive effects of feminism varies on how you define it. Most woman, like twinmom, want to earn the same amount of money a man would get for performing the same job. That's not feminism, that's equality. It has always been my view that equality is not what the feminists want, they want revenge for the "rampant sexism" our society was plagued with some seventy-five years ago. I fully support equality among the genders, but resent a system where one gender is superior to the other. We already tried that a long time ago, and I'm sure most would never want to go back to it.

As opposed to negative control? I guess I'm a little dense. Not that I'm a feminist by any means.

Who doesn't want 'positive control' of his or her own life? Sure some feminists are irritating, but all zealots are illogical morons. . .educated and literate feminists are a threat to idiotic men who don't know how to deal with a real philosophical challenge. . .besides, you will find out just how much game you have if you try to hook up with a feminist in college. . .people that hate feminists are simply uneducated sexually-frustrated morons. . .

Depends on your idea of what a "feminist" is. One horrid example of feminism was in my Women's Studies class back in college. It took a while for the teacher and I to get along (since I was pretty much the only one who didn't just sit back and take notes on her "men are evil" routine. The three guys in the class just meekly sat in silence, as if afraid to stand up for themselves). One argument that we had was when she literally said that it was like a "pendulum", and for women to get equal rights, it had to "swing the other way" in order for it to settle in the middle (meaning that women should get MORE rights in order to eventually be equal). She never could tell me how men having less rights is any better than a woman having less rights, and I couldn't convince her that having rights wasn't a matter of physics but of common sense. Some "feminists" are clearly extreme, like the teacher in my Women's Studies class. But most women just want equal opportunity; we want to make the same amount of money for the same job, we want to have the choice to work in jobs that are "traditionally male" if we really want, just as a man should have the opportunity to work in a job that is "traditionally female". Most American women want to help women in other countries, who suffer from discrimination far worse than we've experienced. I don't think that's unreasonable.

Your typical feminist is frustrated lesbian who's bitter about life and needs someone to blame it on. Here's an update: women and men will never be equal because we're not made equally. Some choices- like murder- shouldn't be chosen nor is nature a matter of getting your way. Unfortunately the freedom this nation provides nourishes the ample pastures of stupidity, self pity and robust herds of scapegoats- and feminists love tending to their manure.

Every woman Ive ever know who actually called themselves a femanist was really just angry at all men for their own reasons. They are looking to defeat and control them not be equals. To me, to be "femanist" just says you either hated your father or some male who they needed validation from did not give it.