Feminists Don’t Want Special Rights, Just Equal Rights

I get in a lot of arguments over feminism. On Facebook, on Tumblr, on Twitter, and sometimes in real life. It always seems to end with the person on the other end, usually a dude, calling me a dyke bitch or something to that extent. It used to upset me, but not so much anymore. I guess you could say I’m used to it. The thing is, though, I don’t want to be used to it, because in the end they’re just proving my point.

I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t exactly value a man’s opinion when I’m talking about feminism. Especially not when my opinion is completely shit on by some angry guy with a neckbeard who somehow doesn’t realize that men (as a group) have been oppressing women for centuries. Men don’t experience institutional sexism, so when a man decides to tell me A) how I should experience it and B) what my reaction to it should be, it’s condescending and annoying. That is why we need feminism.

It always goes back to the “special rights” argument. You know, that feminists want special rights—like protection from being discriminated against. And that’s detrimental to men… how? This is just one of those things that completely blows my mind, and not in a good way. That a man could argue against laws meant to protect women against discrimination and harassment, saying that these will grant women special rights, just completely twists around everything we’re fighting for. We wouldn’t need protection from these things if we hadn’t been oppressed for centuries. But the fact is that we only started gaining momentum in the movement for equal rights in the 20^th century.

Why is it that there’s still a need for anyone, not just women, to fight for equal rights anyway? Isn’t that why they’re called rights, after all, and not privileges? Because we are all entitled to them? Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Article 2? “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Oh, and that was signed by every country in the United Nations.

Special rights, though.

Granting someone else rights equal to your own does not mean you lose out on your rights. All it means is that others gain. What exactly scares you all so much about that?

It’s not just about rights. It’s also about being treated like we’re equal to men. Because we are. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a misogynist, end of story. I am tired of my opinions being ignored because Mr. Neckbeard thinks he knows more about sexism than I do. I am tired of getting catcalled when I’m out and about. I am tired of being called a bitch for not being romantically or sexually interested in someone.

Go ahead and call me a dyke bitch. Tell me I’m too angry and that people would listen more if only I would be polite. I’ve heard it all before. But you know what? I will not back down. And I will not apologize for demanding respect.

Written by Alisse Desrosiers
Follow her on Twitter and Tumblr, and check out her blog femetits!

Opinions stated in our editorials do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Feminspire and its staff as a whole, but instead reflect the opinions of the writer.

Voice Of Reason

If you don’t value a mans opinion, how do you expect men to value you? What is your problem? You can’t handle someone disagreeing with you? You just want to silence them?

Man have also been repressed in the past, not just women. This well-written logical article by Angry Harry explains it better than I can:

http://www.angryharry.com/eswerewomenoppressedinthewest.htm??note

Respect is EARNED not demanded. With your attitude, you will never get respect…And no, this is not because you are a woman. It is because you are an opinionated, self-absorbed misandrist, who shoots people down simply for disagreeing with you bigoted opinion.
- http://www.facebook.com/alisse.desrosiers Alisse Marie
  
  lol
- http://www.floralinguist.com/ Kaya
  
  What exactly is it that you’re arguing against, here?
  - http://www.facebook.com/alisse.desrosiers Alisse Marie
    
    he wants someone to think of the poor oppressed men
    - http://twitter.com/SavannahKThomas Savannah Thomas
      
      Think of teh menz!
    - Voice Of Reason
      
      Yes, because any issue that effects men is conveniently ignored by you feminists and twisted around so that it looks like women are the ones effected.
      - http://www.facebook.com/phoebe.eccles Phoebe Eccles
        
        Hi Voice of Reason
        I’d like to firstly apologise about the lack of sensitivity my fellow writer used in this article. She clearly wasn’t anticipating or taking into account the potential hurt it could cause misogynists.
        Please tell me your issues concerning your oppression about I will do my best to earn your respect. Do use logic, truth and facts in your post though, as I wouldn’t want to see you being a hypocrite like those nasty feminists out there.
      - Voice Of Reason
        
        Here are some facts (most of which you will probably ignore):
        
        - Men die earlier than women
        - Men commit suicide more often than women
        - There are more homeless men than women
        - Men are more likely to be mordered than women
        - Men are more likely to be subject to violence
        - Men make up over 90% of work place deaths
        - More women are enrolled in college than men
        - The unemployment rate is higher for men
        - Women are more likely to graduate from high school than men
        - Men work longer hours, in more dangerous jobs
        - More men are in prison, and they receive tougher penalties for similiar crimes
        - More men have been conscripted for military service, and the vast majority of military deaths are men
        - Men get raped by the divorce courts
        - Higher drug and alcoholism amongst men
        
        Do you want me to continue? Or will I get another cheap sarcastic reply?
      - A Feminist
        
        The fact that you can use the phrase “men get “raped” by the divorce courts” shows that you don’t get it.
        
        Also, nobody is arguing that there aren’t deep societal problems that affect men. Violence, unemployment, suicide, homelessness are all real problems. However, feminism doesn’t cause those. Feminism is not trying to put down men/make life tougher for men. Are you familiar with the concept of the straw man argument?
      - Phoebe Eccles
        
        Yes, men die earlier than women, due to both biological and lifestyle reasons. I would speculate that the reason more men commit suicide than women is due to stifling gender expectations within society, in which it is considered weak and not masculine to seek help. believe it or not, most feminists work towards something that helps benefit both men and women. By exploding myths concerning gender and ‘appropriate’ behaviour, men are freed from many unpleasant pressures within society. Men are more likely to be murdered than women, but they are also more likely to be the murderers. I would again argue that this isn’t due to some innate difference, but instead is a result of socialisation. Women employment rates are higher, yet they recieve significantly lower salaries. Women tend not to be hired for manual, dangerous jobs because they are, on average, physically weaker. There are many women who would like these jobs but are unable to get them. Again, yes, men commit more crimes because of the patrairchal structures of society, which harms men just as much as women.
        I think you’ve misunderstood what everyone is trying to say. This isn’t a man vs women argument. When patriarchal society disappears, so will so many of the issues that you’ve raised.
        The vast majority of feminists work towards creating EQUALITY, which removes male oppression also. Please think logically about the issues you’ve raised. Men aren’t taking drugs and drinking because of feminists.
      - Voice Of Reason
        
        Don’t give me this nonsense that feminists are to help men. Feminists have as much desire to help men as Nazis did to the Jews. It has been scientifically proven that the difference between male and female behaviors are GENETIC. But as usual, you conveniently ignore this evidence.
        
        So you agree that men die earlier due to biological and lifestyle reasons? Then would logic dictate that men need help in order to close this life expectancy gap? Oh yeah, I forgot, it’s only a concern when women are the ones on the wrong end of the gap. When men are on the wrong end of the gap (e.g. college enrollment) that’s “equality”.
        
        The reason why men are under so much pressure is because feminists want to take every single benefit of being a man off them, as well as keeping their own benefits that they get as women….
        
        Also, the so called “wage gap” issue doesn’t help. Most women will never marry a man who earns less than them, yet when a man does earn more than a women, feminists will squawk and stamp their feet over it. A man can’t win. Even if a man is extremely intelligent, works 60 hours a week in a job with high pressure and high responsibility…if he gets promoted over a woman working some easy receptionist job, she will scream “discrimination”. If a man works in a more dangerous job, where he is likely to get killed and that will most probably reduce his life expectancy, than don’t you think he deserves to be paid more?
        
        Yes men commit more crimes, which indicates they need help. This has nothing to do with “patriarchal structure” (whatever the hell they are). Many men in jail are brought up by single mothers, and we all know which gender are the main initiators of divorce, don’t we? And not to mention that men get tougher sentences for similar crimes. Hell, women can falsely accuse men of rape, and the toughest sentence they can expect is a year in jail (if they get sentenced at all).
        
        You constant crying and whinging about discrimination has no basis. It is all lies and propaganda, and you are simply a parrot. You don’t fight issues that effect “equality”. You fight anything that threatens your matriarchal power. Believe me, I understand quite well, the way you twist everything around and blame a non-existent “patriarchy”. I don’t have any “patriarchy” that I benefit from. I just live my life, and work hard like every other man.
        
        “Men aren’t taking drugs and drinking because of feminists.”
        
        What rubbish. There are many single men out there who are lonely, and they can’t get a girlfriend, “We women have CHOICE now!” because women whore themselves off to the top 10% of men “We’re not here to please MEN!” What else can some of these men do? They need love and affection as well.
        
        Regardless of all this, it is still an issue that effects males, and is ignored by feminists. Imagine your response if it were females who took more drugs and alcohol? “Blah blah blah this is the result of patriarchy blah blah blah discrimination this blah blah blah discrimination that.”
      - http://twitter.com/abbeybabbling Abigail Lewis
        
        @8d04926113963633b3afff57bc35894a:disqus , what do you think about the fact that someone recently told me that I shouldn’t talk if I was the only woman present, that I should ‘shut my mouth and keep out of the conversation’ in a group of men?
        
        I’ve read through all of your comments and while I disagree with you for the reasons you’ve already heard and ignored from my colleagues, I do respect that you are willing to engage with women and read through what women write, even though I do find it a little upsetting that you ignored most of what @facebook-532156694:disqus said, since she addressed each of your points. For example, in reference to your last point about feminists blaming the patriarchy if women took more drugs and alcohol – we definitely do blame the patriarchy for the fact that men take more drugs and alcohol, as Phoebe went to great pains to outline in her comment.
        
        Back to my point; you respect women enough to read the media we post and the comments we write. But there ARE people (of every gender, class, race – I’m not going to blame one demographic) who perpetuate a state of affairs in which women are silenced, such as the person I mentioned above. So I’m just genuinely wondering what you think about incidents/people such as those. Do you just disbelieve that they happen?
      - Voice Of Reason
        
        My whole point is that mens issues are ignored, and feminists do nothing to help.
        
        I gave a comprehensive list of some of the issues effecting men, most of which were disregarded by Phoebe Eccles with nonsense about “patriarchy”. I gave a THOROUGH reply to her showing her that she is wrong.
        
        Now you are saying I’m ignoring her? It is MENS ISSUES that are being ignored. It is mens issues that are being undermined by feminists.
        
        For example, Instead of speaking out against issues such as drugs and alcoholism among men, all you feminists ever do is blame the “patriarchy” and then sweep the issue under the carpet, all the while making out as though feminists are doing all they can to help such issues, when in fact they do nothing at all.
        
        MEN HAVE ISSUES AS WELL!!!! How hard is it for you to understand? FEMINISTS DO NOTHING ABOUT IT!!!!!! It is that simple.
        
        You make out that women are silenced, when in fact it is men who are silenced by feminists. Your attempt to silence me by falsely accusing me of ignoring responses is a perfect example.
      - http://twitter.com/abbeybabbling Abigail Lewis
        
        Are you going to answer my question? About the incidents/people and whether you believe things like that happen or not? Or are you going to ignore that, too, and then accuse me of falsely accusing you of…oooops turns out your logic doesn’t work.
        
        Men have lots of issues too which I like to think that I, as a feminist, don’t ignore when they are the fault of society. I wrote an article about the reddit rape thread controversy on here and included as much information about support for male victims of rape as I did for female.
        
        Also – telling you that you ignore certain lines when it’s convenient to you is not silencing you. It’s asking for answers to those lines, therefore asking for more of your voice. Saying things like ‘how hard is it for you to understand?’ dismisses the person you’re talking to as too stupid for proper discussion, and that is silencing.
        
        I just want you to understand that we are actually on the same page. The issues that men face are, I believe, constructed by the unreasonable demands society places on men in asking for them never to be feminine. I feel incredibly strongly about suicide rates, across all genders and particularly in teens. The more research I do into this subject, the more convinced I become that the societal issues that cause people to commit suicide are extremely similar, they just manifest differently. For example, men are more likely to kill themselves because of financial problems – bankruptcy, or problems at work, and so on. I believe this is because society places a horrible expectation on men that they be the breadwinners of their families and support everyone around them. And this expectation is rooted in the same mistake as the one that pays women unevenly, hinders their progression up the career ladder, and so on. I’ve used the word ‘society’ throughout this because I can see you don’t like the word patriarchy, which I can understand since it somewhat implies men are to blame for the patriarchy, which they are not – not men today, at least, men in the past. But when a feminist uses the word ‘patriarchy’ they literally just mean society, the society that forces men into depression/drugs/alcohol/suicide and forces women into lack of control/pay gap/no choice in health because of the SAME misconceptions about gender.
        
        Please please please don’t reply angrily or defensively. I’m not accusing you, or men, of anything. I believe you have seen horrible things happen to the men around you as I have seen horrible things happen to the women around me, and all that needs to happen for you and I to agree is that we recognise that these horrible things stem from the same problems.
      - Voice Of Reason
        
        When feminists bring up the world “patriarchy” they don’t men society. They mean MEN. They assume that because I am a man, I am a part of this so called “patriarchy” and that I receive all the benefits and privileges of this so-called “patriarchy”. The fact is I am not. The top few percent of men keep all the power and monopolise all the women. It always has been like that, always will. Almost every feminist (who is not a lesbian) would rather have sex with these men at the top.
        
        But my gripe with feminism, and the reason why it gets me so angry is that feminism doesn’t just attack these top percent of men. It attacks ALL men, and assumes that ALL men enjoy these same privileges. So, because a few men are at the top enjoying their power, feminism wants to make ALL men pay the price for it, while they themselves (if they are not lesbian) fantasise about these men at the top.
        
        The same is the case with the top few percentage of men who are blessed with good looks…they enjoy all the sex with women who take it in turns to be penetrated by them. Then feminists aggressively tell ordinary men things like “We aren’t here just to please you!”, “We have choice!” “Just because we are dressed this way, doesn’t mean it’s for your eyes!”, before going to the next high status man and letting him ejaculate all over her face.
        
        Feminism has increasingly made ordinary women look down on men. In the past, an average man could at least have some respect from ordinary females. Now, all women – no matter how ordinary they are – look down on men (while they have sex with the select few they like).
        
        Have a look at the original blog post for instance, demanding that all men show her respect because she is a women. What she fails to understand is, that men also undergo sexual discrimination. She doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a man, and to experience the constant hostility of feminism, while not enjoying the benefits it claims you have. It is men who are being disrespected, not her. I bet more men would be willing to help her, than what she would for them. She fails to understand that those in power at the top, they disrespect EVERYONE. I am in the same boat as her, but I – as a man – am being spoken to as though I am not. Her post – and many feminist posts – are simply unfair. They brings up the US against THEM mentality, which doesn’t get any where.
        
        And as for you question, I simply can’t respond to every single line that is written in a message, because I’d end up writing a novel (my posts end up being long enough). The reason I didn’t respond because I don’t believe it to be true. I thought I made it clear in my message, but apparently I haven’t. I just don’t think their is any conspiracy to silence women. It is simply not true. It is an unfair claim, because men are silenced as well (often by women).
      - Tyler
        
        dude, you are a fucking idiot. stop making men look bad. trolling a girl’s website like this with your bullshit is just retarded and sad.
      - Voice Of Reason
        
        What is your problem? These feminists are slandering your gender, accusing you of all things under the sun just because you are a male. And you want to silence me for speaking against it?
        
        Someone has to speak against the vile ideology. If enough men speak against it, maybe some changes will be made, and the appalling state of men in western society will start to improve.
        
        Here is a good webpage for you which has logical sensible arguments against their vile nonsense:
        
        http://www.angryharry.com
      - http://www.robotsandlace.com/ Jess Mary
        
        Hey, as much as I agree with you and appreciate you speaking up, this is a women’s website. equating women with girls is infantilizing. It’s really common and I’m sure you didn’t mean anything by it, but just pointing it out!
      - http://www.facebook.com/phoebe.eccles Phoebe Eccles
        
        @8d04926113963633b3afff57bc35894a:disqus Abbey has already explicitly said that we are talking about society rather than men when we say ‘patriarchy’, but you have chosen to ignore that. Perhaps it was a mistake of mine to use such a word in the first place, although if you did a google search on it you would find out that is not meant in a derogatory manner to males at all. As a feminist, I have never ever attacked ‘men’ as a group, I have attacked structures in society. These structures have been created by both men and women, and, as you have pointed out yourself, they affect both men and women. You are speaking under the opinion that we want to “make all men pay?” Pay for what? We aren’t about avenging ourselves, this isn’t a playground game. We are talking about making peoples lives better.
        It sounds like you are particularly aggrieved by the fact that women prefer some men to others. Would you like to offer a solution to this? Are you trying to say that men hold no sexual preferences? I am not trying to attack you, but it sounds as if you are bitter about some kind of personal experience. Creating prejudices out of this is not a sensible way forward.
        It also sounds as if you are confusing the word ‘Feminist’ with the word ‘Female’. I know many male feminists, who know they are not being attacked by the title and simply believe in equality.
        As for respect… There is nothing disrespectful about putting forward an opinion. You have not earnt my respect by comparing feminists to Nazi’s, but still I am entering a civilized conversation with you. You are the only one here putting forward an ‘us against them’ attitude- the original post expressed a hostility towards misodgynists, not men as a whole. The writer had every right to express hostility to people who have treated her with disrespect and have openly abused her.
        Humans are silencing each other all the time, regardless of their sex or gender. Wouldn’t you rather do something about that instead of spewing out angry hatred?
        I don’t intend to reply to you again, as you ignored everything in my last post. Myself and Abbey have given up time in which we have taken all your points seriously, but you have not extended the same courtesy.
        I wasn’t originally sarcastic towards you because you’re a man and I’m a feminist. I was sarcastic because your arguments were a result of blind prejudice and twisted logic. Please have a look at the vast online community of male feminists and listen to what they have to say, as we obviously cannot ‘earn’ your respect.
      - http://twitter.com/abbeybabbling Abigail Lewis
        
        Ah, @facebook-532156694:disqus . We tried.
      - Voice Of Reason
        
        I tried. You lied.
      - Voice Of Reason
        
        Have a look at some of the other posts that I didn’t reply to:
        
        “Think of teh menz!”
        
        “he wants someone to think of the poor oppressed men”
        
        Every time a mens issue is raised to feminists, it is met with sarcasm like this. It’s disgusting. And here you were telling me that feminists want to do something about these issues.
      - Voice Of Reason
        
        I didn’t ignore Abbey, I corrected her. Feminists in general talk about all men when they say such buzzwords as “patriarchy” and “male privilege.” To say they don’t is a LIE.
        
        These male feminists you speak of think they are not being attacked due to the lies told to them, but really they are under attack. Such males have already been attacked and defeated.
        
        The writer of the blog post BLATANTLY expressed hostility towards MEN IN GENERAL, and shows BLATANT DISRESPECT for them. The writer of the blog post BLATANTLY promotes the “us against them” attitude. For you to make out that I am the one doing it is a lie. Here are some of the quote, just to remind you:
        
        “I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t exactly value a man’s opinion when I’m talking about feminism.”
        
        “Especially not when my opinion is completely shit on by some angry guy with a neckbeard who somehow doesn’t realize that men (as a group) have been oppressing women for centuries.”
        
        You say that she has “every right to express hostility to people who have treated her with disrespect and have openly abused her”. Well, I have every right to express hostility to people who treat men with disrespect and openly abuse them, like she does.
        
        You make lives better? What self-righteous lies. Take a look at this horrific video, and then try to tell me that this mans life has been improved through feminism:
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYb5xSd4PRs&list=UUDoNFQZqQpd6aL32Ua4JPTQ&index=5&feature=plcp
        
        I am not the one using twisted logic and ignoring points. It is you feminists that use twisted logic – as I have just pointed out – and ignore mens issues, all the while pretending that you are concerned for them. I listed several points of mens issues, and every single one of them was either ignored, undermined, or you pretended that feminists as a whole want to do something about them.
        
        You should LISTEN to some of the MRA’s on the web instead of undermining them. One really intelligent MRA I know is Angry Harry, who brings up some EXCELLENT points about the nonsense of feminism and how vile the ideology is. If you read all of his articles with an OBJECTIVE mind, you would change your view. But since you are a feminist, you probably aren’t capable of objectivity, because you ignore anything that doesn’t align with your dogma.
      - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001009246964 Jordan Isaiah
        
        I would like to comment on the fact that more men are in prison than women and serve harder penalties for similar crimes. I would like to point out that the fact that there are more men actually within prisons does nothing to prove your point as it just means more men commit crimes. Also, did you ever think to consider that repeat offenders will often get more time for the same offense because it has happened more than once.
  - http://www.facebook.com/alisse.desrosiers Alisse Marie
    
    because going onto a website for women is the best place to do so
- Kate Rayes
  
  Dearest Voice of Reason,
  
  While I entirely and completely respect your opinion (because it is obviously well-founded and entirely valid– PLEASE NOTE MY SARCASM), you are full of so much incorrectness it is mind-boggling.
  
  Have you even perused the site you send us to as your back-up? It has a picture of Hilary Clinton being sexualized. Nice one. Supposedly after reading your POS website, the strips down into a bikini and waves her arms around. Not very empowering for anyone, I don’t think.
  
  Also, this incident of the Titanic… It was entirely sexist and disgusting that men drowned and women didn’t. It is truly revolting to me. It’s also revolting that upper-class women took priority over lower-class women– classism and sexism both suck. So does ageism, while we’re on this topic.
  
  I stand by this statement, and it’s a statement I’ve made a hundred times in a hundred forms of company on a hundred different topics, but it applies here: If someone needs to die for me, it’ll be me. It won’t be some man that wants to “respect” me, it won’t be some soldier who wants to “protect my freedom.” It’ll be ME.
  
  Please be respectful when you post towards my fellow columnists. These are people I deeply respect and love.
  
  -Kate
  - Voice Of Reason
    
    I respect anybody who puts forth their opinion and backs it up with truth, facts and logic. I do not respect someone who stamps their feet and yells, demanding respect, without even valuing opposing opinions, and without even giving respect themselves.
    
    I especially do not respect someone who parrots the same tired arguments that feminists have spouted for decades, while simply ignoring any evidence that disagrees with their dogma (like you clearly have).
    
    Respect is not gained simply because you are a woman. The same is the case with men. Instead of squawking, go and DO SOMETHING that earns you respect.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001009246964 Jordan Isaiah
  
  Now, i don’t know exactly how far back in history you want to go but as far as women being more discriminated against than men in the western world, the website helps you none at all because it isn’t even a valid website. Additionally, your saying that there is no evidence for it is also useless considering women weren’t even legally declared as “persons” until
  October 18th, 1929.
  - http://www.facebook.com/alisse.desrosiers Alisse Marie
    
    Hi Jordan
Regular Guy

I don’t have anything against equal rights and all that, but it seems that I run into a lot of people like this:
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/36j8vy/

Who seem to hurt the cause rather than support it, and feed into some peoples views about the stereotypes of the “empowered woman”
- Voice Of Reason
  
  Yes, it is amazing how hypocritical feminists are. Notice how your evidence for their hypocrisy is conveniently ignored. They operate on irrational emotions, not logic.
  
  Feminism has nothing remotely to do with the concept of “equality”. Equality is just a feminist buzzword to cover their real intentions.
http://www.facebook.com/misty.novitch Misty Novitch

GREAT article! SO well-said! Sing it sister! Y
ou make me feel comforted and relieved. We are winning Consciousness raising groups are being reborn because of the Occupy Movement, and we will learn to fight physically, too (I’ll see to that ). EVERYTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE – WHAT WILL BE IS PULLING US TOWARD ITSELF!
Male feminist with an opinion

This is so unfortunate, I stumble upon this article in hopes of finding more information to help convince a friend of mine I’m debating and from the title had thought this might be my article. However, I am a male feminist and was rather turned off by the line ” I don’t exactly value a man’s opinion when I’m talking about feminism.” If you, a female, don’t place any value my opinion on feminism, then please explain to me how this guy is supposed to? If my opinion doesn’t matter, then maybe you should get over here to debate this debate for me, cause I’m a guy trying to make at least some sort of difference on this, but when we keep framing the issue as though men can have no part in feminism then this issue is dead in the water. Question, if a man’s opinion doesn’t matter, are you just polling the choir? Isn’t the idea of men coming to the table to meet women as equals a big part of it? I argue in favor of feminism on Facebook, real life, and yes I have never been called anything like a “bitch” or “dyke” but I have been told “I am glad you are speaking about this, I say things like this to friends, and they just act like I’m being a crazy woman.” I look forward to anything I can do to help this cause, but by your logic I would be an inconsequential addition. Along that same logic, a straight man has nothing to say about homosexuality, and a white person has nothing to say about race. If we’re not including the dominant groups in our discussion, who are we trying to convince? I’m not trying to pull “Voice of Reason’s” (Ironic name) bullshit that men are “equally” oppressed, because they are not. There are many issues for men due to gender problems, but I’m not going to try to compare scars with women.
I just hope in the future, assuming this is a cause you really care about you aim more towards language that will actually help your cause rather than language that makes you feel good at the time. You don’t have to listen to Mr. Neckbeard, but perhaps Mr. Can’t-Grow-A-Neckbeard has some thoughts on gender issues that could be worth listening to.
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Atarii

So what you’re saying is that sons are responsible for the sins of their fathers. If you think that this is not what you are saying, you are either a poor writer, or delusional, and I do not say that with anger or with the simple intent to insult, but so that you know how serious I am, and I am just stating the fact:

There is no other way to interpret, “. . . Especially not when my opinion is completely shit on by some angry guy
with a neckbeard who somehow doesn’t realize that men (as a group) have
been oppressing women for centuries. Men don’t experience institutional
sexism, so when a man decides to tell me A) how I should experience it
and B) what my reaction to it should be, it’s condescending and
annoying. That is why we need feminism.”

A major problem is that it does not matter if men start being oppressed, even if just a little; all that matters is that there WAS a time when women WERE oppressed, and that means ALL men who now live should not only given women equal rights, but are not allowed to be upset if their rights are monopolized.
It’s that old story: If you are doing what you are “supposed” to do and acting how society has decided you should act, the oppression or double-standards are not apparent; only those who have an unpopular opinion are able to clearly perceive the hypocrisy.