There’s been a lot of argument on Comment is Free on how ‘mankind’ is not sexist because ’man’ was originally for all people, not just men.

This has irked me, mostly because however true that may be in theory, in practice it ignores what man means currently and, crucially, seems to be an argument purported by men with little or no regard for how women feel at being airbrushed out like this.

Like almost everyone in the English speaking world today who hasn’t gone into etymological depth, I hear ‘man’ and I think ‘mlae’. When I hear  phrases like ‘the history of mankind’ or ” evolution of man’ , I feel left out. This world does not define me as a man, and lets face it history itself is one big male bias. So you have the ‘history of mankind’ quite literally being the history of men, with maybe one paragraph on how women got the vote . 

So yes, to my mind ‘mankind’ is sexist. And don’t get me started on people who just use ‘man’, which is still disturbingly common. 

I am a woman and when people use ‘mankind’ , to my mind it describes how male is seen as the default, how women have been othered and relegated to a niche interest and subsection. After all women have ‘women’s history and men have well history. As a woman I do feel annoyed and angry when people use mankind and other sexist phrases, regardless of whether the etymology is inherently exist or not and surely the feelings of half the human race, sorry ‘mankind’ should be taken into account just a little?

It is not ‘derailing’ to suggest that the language used to describe humanity as a whole, actually reflects humanity as a whole. Seeing as it affects our everyday lives it’s not ‘hysterical’ or ‘overly emotional’ to suggest that women’s feelings on the matter should be listened to either. 

My mum made a point re: sexist language in church, she said it makes her feel alien and not a part of the whole thing when all the hymns etc are going on about us all being ‘brothers’ in Christ and ‘goodwill to all men’. I think this point stands in general, so before you go off on a etymological tangent that has little bearing on current language usage and perception you might want to consider the 50% or so of people who might be offended by your choice of ‘non sexist’ language. Language does after all evolve and meanings and perhaps more importantly , perceptions of meaning, change.

It’s a complaint I hear over and over again , that the word ‘feminist’ is sexist and that we’d be better of calling ourselves ‘equalists’.

We wouldn’t.

Yes we are about equal rights for all, but with a particular focus on women’s rights and the way women are oppressed by the patriarchy. To use the term ‘equalist’ is to deny this focus on women, which is not sexist it’s just focusing on one particular aspect of a problem. To remove any association with women and the female is to gloss over the fact that the problems we are dealing with are specific to women.
(disclaimer for the terminally thick who just don’t ‘get it’: Focusing on problems relating to women does not mean we don’t care or are hostile to the problems of men it just means we;re focusing on women. If you still don’t get it go and complain to a donkey sanctuary that it’s not looking after dolphins.)

We’re called feminists, or womanists , or women’s rights activists because we are focusing on problems faced by women as a result of their gender. To take emphasis away from this dilutes these problems and assumes some sort of equal playing field.

So until women are not discriminated against BECAUSE THEY ARE FEMALE the word ‘feminist’ and other terms referring to gender continues to be apt.

‘Feminist’ is not sexist in the way ‘fireman’ is.

Fireman assumes that one must be a man to do the job and uses the male as the default for ALL.

Feminism focuses on the particular way in which women/ the female gender as a group are discriminated against and their place in society.

In short fireman etc. is sexist because it uses the male default to be a default for all regardless of gender, feminism focuses on problems that females face as a result of our gender.

Focusing on one problem does not deny or belittle the existence of others.

Two articles got me thinking; one a more flipptant musing on the usage of the word ‘curvy’ to mean ‘fat’ and another in depth and fascinating study of ‘black booty politics’

They got me thinking about this move towards ‘celebrating curves’ and ‘real women’ we’ve seen in response to the size zero thing. Shifting the ‘ideal’ of what a woman should look like and attain to is not an improvement. I’m sick of hearing ‘oh I wish we could go back to the 50s where we had Marilyn Monroe that’s what real women are like!’ and similar comments. All the ‘real women have curves! thing.

Yes real women have curves, but real women are also don’t.

Shifting an ‘ideal’ shape does no one any favours. Women are still made to feel inferior by not being an ideal shape.
Curvy or stick thin, it doesn’t matter by forcing one narrow ideal upon women you force the majority of us to feel inferior for not living up to some ideal that only a small percentage of women achieve either by genetic fluke or surgery. When one narrow ideal is held up women will always be encouraged to loose just a few punts, gain just a few, tone up, get bigger boobs, get smaller boobs, arses etc. We can never just be.

It shouldn’t matter what shape you are, there should be no ‘ideal’, there is no monolithic woman who comes in a one size fits all woman-shape.

I read this interesting article today and it got me thinking. Not so much on dating, but on the whole ‘people who don’t define as feminists’ is this good bad or what?

I will admit I am sick of the ‘I’m not a feminist but…’ spiels, however what I really mean is I’m tired of people who don’t really know what feminism is about, people who have no clue on feminist though, philosophy and academia. People who think ‘Fat hairy man hating lesbian’ and don’t see beyond the stereotype, who use myths and fabrications to belittle us.
I used to think women who deliberately didn’t define as feminist but believed in equality and shared what I see as feminist views on gender and sexual politics were misguided if not downright stupid. Then I read ‘Why I am not a feminist’ and had a wake up call. Feminism is not for everyone, everyone has a right to define as what they like. Feminism has a chequered past, while we have achieved great things we have the ugly underbelly too. I can see why feminism does not appeal to a lot of women who don’t fit the white middle class cis able bodied criteria.
However I do see a great difference in Renee’s intelligent and well argued position and those who assume feminist = hair legs and ugly, ie those who argue against feminism without having any understanding of what it is. You can argue about feminism all you like but unless you show a grasp of the issue, unless you argue with some intelligence then I am not going to take you seriously, especially when you are belittling views I hold dear.

As for could I date a non feminist? Perhaps, I like to think I can accept views that differ form my own, but anyone who did not accept my views and did not accept that this is an important part of my life, something I am passionate about. No way.
As for a rampant misogynist? forget it.

Some links on why I don’t personally agree with the ‘but why not just call yourself ‘equalist’ surely ‘feminist’ is just sexist and not very fair if you only focus on women that’s discrimination too!!!!!’ type arguments:
http://blog.shrub.com/archives/tekanji/2007-04-07_569
http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/faq-why-feminism-and-not-just-humanism-or-equalism-isnt-saying-youre-a-feminist-exclusionary/

Sorry to break it to the misinformed feminist haters, but we really don’t want a world without men. This article almost made me puke over my breakfast in rage.

‘Face it guys we’d be better off without you’

This sort of journalistic polyfilla is one of the reason feminism gets a bad name. This is not feminist by a long shot.
A whole world of cliches about outmoed and sterotypically nonsense gender roles for men and women? The world would be better with women becuase we;d talk about shoes and not start wars. Yawn.

I know it’s just a ‘fun’ article but I spent too much of my time having to explain to folk that feminism is not about hating men and thinking women are better, it’s about wanting people to be valued as people no matter what their make-up of chromosomes or gender identity. This sort of utter tripe does us no favours and just plays not the hands of the ‘ohh see you DO hate men!’ nutters.
Is it really too much for mainstream media to admit that there are women who can put up shelves as well as put on mascara and that there are men who love fast cars as well as cute babies?
The world would be a better place without bullshit gender stereotyping and shit journalism. I think I’m more annoyed becuase this is The Guardian, I expect better from them. This is like a time warp into the 1970s , you could imagine it flanked opposite an advert for bri-nylon flowered shirts and avocado seeds. Plus, as a ‘fun’ article it fails becuase it’s so unimaginative and bloody boring. I get much less offended by these things if they’re funny and well written.

I also love ‘Attack of the 50ft Woman’ and have that poster on my wall, it now feels sullied. Maybe I could blu-tak on a little cut out of Tanya Gould into the little burning car?

Swimsuit Issue – Sonic Youth

I’m just here for dictation – I don’t wanna be a sensation
bein’ on Sixty Minutes – was it worth your fifteen minutes?

don’t touch my breast – I’m just working at my desk
don’t put me to the test – I’m just doing my best

shopping at MaxFields – power for you to wield
dreams of going to the Grammies – `till you poked me with your whammy

you spined the disc – now you’re moving your wrist
I’m just from Encino – why are you so meano

I’m just here for dictation – and not your summer vacation
you really like to shmooze – well now you’re on the news

I’m from Sherman Oaks – just a wheel with spokes
but I ain’t giving you headace – in a Sunset bungalow

Roshumba, Judith, Paulina, Cathy, Vendella, Naomi,
Ashley, Angie, Stacey, Gail
ice women
ice women
ice women

This wonderful article on The F word, By Ananya (aged 10) made my day.

This post by Renne caught my eye.

While the issue I am going to address is quite different I feel it has a few similarities, and her post saprked off my little rant.

I am sick of men saying such crap like ‘Ohh I’m all for feminism I LOVE women’ and then go on to say how much they ‘love’ women by basically objectifying us, patronising us and not seeing us as equal. Seeing us as some mythical ‘other’ .

This is sexism. Women are not some fabled species who need to be put in a cage and have their beauty ‘admired’. We are PEOPLE. Interact with us as you would a man, we do not need special treatment, we do not need fetishising, locking up and shoved on a pedestal to be ‘admired’. We are not same rare orchid that needs to be kept in a special locked greenhouse, we’re not some precious work of art hung in a gallery behind security lasers.

Feminism is about demolishing women as being the ‘other’ and treating us a ’special’ and ‘different’ and elevating us to a pedestal, while it may be seen as being ‘nice’,  only exacerbates this sense of ‘otherness’ and as a result exacerbates inequality.

‘Sexual harassment’. The phrase conjures up images of a dreary 1970s office block with  lascivious boss in a bri nylon suit, Benny Hill sketches and seems a distinctly old school feminist complaint. However as a young twenty-something woman who is supposed to be reaping the benefits of equal opportunities and anti discrimination laws I am still surprised at how regularly I can be made to feel uncomfortable by a lecherous comment or wandering hand. However what angers me more is the creeping acceptance of it all. If you object you are ‘frigid’ or ‘uptight’ and it’s just a ‘compliment’ , moreover many women seem to begrudgingly accept it as something that isn’t pleasant but ‘just happens’. Over the past few months, even years, I have begun to think, why should we accept this?
One particularly acute incident stands out, during the four weeks or so of summer we had me and my friend decided on a picnic in a local park. We were repeatedly harassed by a man who turned nasty, calling us ‘bastard bitches’ when we declined his advances. All this happened in bright sunlight while we were enjoying a picnic in a safe local park where schoolchildren, dog walkers and joggers ran past. I’ve complained to various male friends about incidents like this, the time I felt a hand grab my behind whilst walking down the street and turned round to be winked at by a young man, the numerous times I have had to psychically push men away from me in clubs. It doesn’t happen a lot they insist, it’s not really a problem, I’m just being an ‘awkward feminist’. Whilst there may not be a vast pandemic of lechery, it happens enough to make me uncomfortable and the majority of women I know have had similar experiences. It is the creeping acceptance that angers me most. The insistence that it’s ‘just a bit of fun’ or my favourite ‘it’s a compliment’, guaranteed to have me foaming at the mouth in tooth grinding fury. The fact is most women when they are out on the town have had to ‘rescue’ a friend from an unwanted ‘admirer’ who just won’t take no for an answer, we’ve had to endure lewd comments pointing out the bloody obvious (mostly reminding us that we posses breasts) as we go about our daily lives whether we are dressed up to the nines for a night out or relaxing in jeans and a t shirt.  The thing that sends me into unparalleled fits of rage however is the attitude of some men that we should be grateful for these insults. I don’t know any women who see being harassed as a compliment. The phrase ‘harassment’ seems to have gone out of fashion, people don’t use it. Perhaps it is seen as too severe. I see being told my breasts are wobbling or having my arse grabbed by a stranger as harassment. I makes me feel uncomfortable, sometimes unsafe and it’s unneeded.
Just today I was informed by a group of men sitting at the end of my street that I ‘was wobbling quite a bit’ and had to endure a chorus of wolf whistles as I trudged off to t the local supermarket in jeans and a t-shirt.
I don’t care how people try to justify it; This IS harassment and this is NOT acceptable.