Why Aziz Ansari is a bit wrong. in Voices Windward

“I feel like if you do believe that men and women have equal rights, if someone asks if you’re a feminist, you have to say yes, because that is how words work,”

I am a feminist (in the popular definition), This is clear in my beliefs and as best as I can my manner. Saying this being a male with a patter as often rooted in machismo as it is marionismo it is very much a knife edge when you explain why you don’t self apply labels unless there is a warrented context and why you think any -ism let alone one that is such a potent term can be somewhat a stymie to political debate and forwarding change…

Let alone when you get on the dangerous narrative of it not being so absolute as Equality or Patriarchy and that other cultures have differant solutions to gender divide and someone them not rooted in our fictional binary…

I use the term Feminist when talking to non active minds and when nuances are troublesome.... but in house,when surrounded by people who know and trust my opinions, who don’t snap into MANARCHIST! at the moment of a seditious thought that doesn’t stick to the party line occours.... well i tend not to apply any labels, because they come with connations, ones that cause difficulty within the left wing and some which act as barriers.

This post is like saying “Do you believe in total equality for all people?… you are a communist”

In addition to this I’ll add there was a time I did call myself a feminist all the time… I was in a debate where I said that “rape and sexual abuse was a social issue, like depression there vast number of men who deal with these things” … I was instantly attacked and called a manarchist, a misogenist and MRA, when I defending myself with sources a greater number of people all ardent feminists I respected some of whom I knew personally told me that as a Man, with my life of privelgege I did not get to argue with a woman when she called me a rape promoter and sexist bastard…

These were not “feminazis” but solid people I respected.

They sided with the woman, becuase she was a woman even tho what she was saying way clearly opposed to equality and indeed modern day feminist ethics.... so I’m sorry but certain people don’t get to police feminism and make it better, I’m not saying that I should have been able to either…

This was not an isolated incident and if I was reactionary minded man I would have taken an anti feminist stance, but I try not to form opinions based on anecdotals or incidentals but ya…

It’s the same reason meat promoters can’t really tell Vegans to curb the enthusiasm of vegan police.

My second reasoning is that Feminism means a lot of differant things to differant people, even within the movement…

To Germaine Greer and a lot of the old guard it means a power dynamic where oppressive men hate woman… and I don’t agree with this.

To many Animal Rights people it means that the male humans (and often male animals) abuse and use female gender animals and that the Feminism is not a human specific issue, Milking cows is rape and is a vital feminist issue.

To many in the movement it is the attempt to readdess the social imbalance by greating a period that favours women and a basis of affimative action.

To repeat, I call myself a feminist in context, when womans rights and the push for equality and when there is a need for solidarity, usually to MRAs and those who arn’t really politically minded…

But when we’re getting into it, Calling myself a Feminist is to ignore and negate the choices of many women to take ownership of their movement, to decide their life and pattern and I don’t get to use a term that appeals to me and then tell them they are wrong.

Particularly not when each and every time you argue with a certain faction you are instantly negated directly becuase of my perceived sex and gender without a hint of intersectionality.

The same character types can be found in race rights, animal rights, gay rights, anarchism, communism and just about any movement where people preach compassion and understanding but don’t always apply it and are so willful to ignore it if it helps their arguments.

Any yes as youi say their are matriachial types and misandrists but their just a burden every movement have in one form or another.

Oh why not put the last knives in my back…

The common definition of Feminism is :-
“…the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.”

“of women’s rights” .... That’s very binary and that’s just not science.

Words are funny game tho eh and qoutes are easy.
“I feel like if you do believe that men and women have equal rights, if someone asks if you’re a communist, you have to say yes, because that is how words work,”

Nuances and rhetoric aside, Feminism is the most potent forces that seeks to gain a life worth living and the liberty and security to pursue happiness and gain equality for half the feckin world.

The minor aspects can be debated till the comes come home, which wave or how radical… not every feminist is an aid to feminism… heck the best arguement against Anarchism is a five minute conversation with your average Anarchist but Feminism as a banner call is beautiful and powerful and boys, you shouldn’t be afraid to use it.

Last updated January 12, 2016