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Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better [Feminism]

UsagiUsagi NahRegistered User regular
In light of recent events and the general ongoing crapshow, let's have a discussion about feminism, racism, misogyny, and the trials and tribulations of day to day living in a patriarchal society!

Admittedly, I'm very uneducated in the academic schools of feminism and would love to learn more, so let's learn together! But let's not just limit ourselves to feminist theory, let's talk about what your personal brand of feminism is, how you live it day to day, why you need feminism, whatever your gender may be, because yes! men benefit from feminism as well.

What are your hopes for the future? Your fears for the present? What do you want and need changed in our culture? Who are your feminist heroes and why?

I thought about noting that we should be polite in this thread, but fuck that. This is an angry topic, a painful and personal topic close to many of our hearts and lives, so politeness really doesn't have a place as things get heavy and difficult. But please, be respectful or I will end you.

So tell me, what have you done to smash the patriarchy today?

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    UsagiUsagi Nah Registered User regular
    Relevant:

    2014-04-10-PLTM196.jpg

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    FyndirFyndir Registered User regular


    What I wanted to say but couldn't figure out how to.

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    Fire TruckFire Truck I love my SELFRegistered User regular
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    UsagiUsagi Nah Registered User regular
    Fire Truck wrote: »
    NO YOU CAN'T

    YES I CAN

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    miscellaneousinsanitymiscellaneousinsanity grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brother, i hurt peopleRegistered User regular
    edited May 2014
    tumblr_n653z1bAsj1qz9bu3o1_500.png

    e:This series of tweets, while not a direct response to the above, is a pretty good response to the above

    miscellaneousinsanity on
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    KochikensKochikens Registered User regular
    0QX5Y6N.jpg

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    KochikensKochikens Registered User regular
    edited May 2014
    i helped host a ladies meetup this past weekend for new women in town to meet and make friends and etc and it was awesome safe and warm and super inclusive and we even had a trans lady couple show up


    anyways the photo of our meetup gets posted in the over-arching expat community and the first fucking comment is from a dude saying, "So when do we get our mens only meetup??"

    Kochikens on
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    UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    so, Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics and David Malki of Wondermark have had this thing going where they make fake book covers in Photoshop to horribly slander each other, resulting in

    tumblr_n3w0t8adES1qcy3blo1_1280.jpg

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    LiiyaLiiya Registered User regular
    Kochikens wrote: »
    i helped host a ladies meetup this past weekend for new women in town to meet and make friends and etc and it was awesome safe and warm and super inclusive and we even had a trans lady couple show up


    anyways the photo of our meetup gets posted in the over-arching expat community and the first fucking comment is from a dude saying, "So when do we get our mens only meetup??"


    I was poised to awesome that until the last part because that sounds lovely.

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    WybornWyborn GET EQUIPPED Registered User regular
    Most of my feminism is, like... I dunno the word for it. Cultural dissection? I approach literature and media with a feminist eye as often as I can, and try to talk about things from that perspective

    I dunno if I'll ever have kids but if I end up with a daughter I want her to have an easier time of things than my sister did, or my wife did - if not an easier time of things, then at least a culture that's less assumptive about certain differences that are assumed to be inherent to sex or gender

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    I Win SwordfightsI Win Swordfights all the traits of greatness starlight at my feetRegistered User regular
    Excellent thread

    I am very loud about my feminism

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    KochikensKochikens Registered User regular
    kick ass women

    tumblr_muzqc8QQJV1rqrubuo1_500.jpg

    her name is rin nakai and look at her fight history

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    I Win SwordfightsI Win Swordfights all the traits of greatness starlight at my feetRegistered User regular
    I don't like do anything real about it

    But I'm loud

    lfYVHTd.png
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    vsovevsove ....also yes. Registered User regular
    I call out a lot of people I know when they make sexist, misogynistic comments.

    The biggest thing I try to do - I try and use my privilege to push back against the patriarchy. I've only got about 2K followers on Twitter, but whenever something happens I make sure to retweet women, amplify voices and also take a firm stand myself. I've got a little bit of influence (not much, but some) and I try and use it in a positive way.

    A lot of that just involves getting out of the way of women who want to talk. Because my role in this isn't to tell women's stories, or to mansplain. It's to not be one of -those- guys, and to push those men around me to also not be one of those guys.

    WATCH THIS SPACE.
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    vsovevsove ....also yes. Registered User regular
    I am also super lucky that I work at a company where instead of getting a meeting with my departmental director when I say something angry and loud about MRAs or what have you, I get retweeted by them and have it noted as a positive on performance reviews.

    WATCH THIS SPACE.
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    nukanuka What are circles? Registered User regular
    I am so fucking lucky. Unbelievably lucky. The worst that I've been through was being sexually harassed by some guy in high school but once I loudly discussed reporting him for his behavior he stopped. I've been cat called before but that just leads to confusion usually for self-esteem reasons.

    But that's it. That's the worst I've been through and that I've seen.

    Today I am smashing the patriarchy by not shaving my pubes. Also by exercising for my health rather than beauty. Can't do anything today because it's Memorial day but my goal for this week is to visit the doctor and discuss how to kick butt and take names. I want to take up boxing.

    DS: 2667 5365 3193 | 2DS: 2852-8590-3716
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    MetalbourneMetalbourne Inside a cluster b personalityRegistered User regular
    I guess the biggest problem I face is people not accepting my female identity because there must obviously be something wrong with being a girl.

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    KochikensKochikens Registered User regular
    nuka wrote: »
    I am so fucking lucky. Unbelievably lucky. The worst that I've been through was being sexually harassed by some guy in high school but once I loudly discussed reporting him for his behavior he stopped. I've been cat called before but that just leads to confusion usually for self-esteem reasons.

    But that's it. That's the worst I've been through and that I've seen.

    Today I am smashing the patriarchy by not shaving my pubes. Also by exercising for my health rather than beauty. Can't do anything today because it's Memorial day but my goal for this week is to visit the doctor and discuss how to kick butt and take names. I want to take up boxing.




    I know it makes me sound like an angry lesbian but seriously fuck shaving

    we didnt shave 100 years ago and were still sexy as fuck

    hair is awesome

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    UsagiUsagi Nah Registered User regular
    Ok, let's talk about the badassery of Ms. Sally Ride because it's her birthday!

    SallyRide.jpg


    Dr. Ride graduated from Stanford with an MS and a PhD in Physics, applied and was accepted to the NASA astronaut program in 1978. She was the first American woman in space (preceded by two lady cosmonauts), and also still the youngest American astronaut. And she wasn't just a passenger! She operated the robot arm (which she also helped design), and back on the ground she served as CapCom and was an active participant in the Rogers Commission to investigate the Challenger disaster.

    The news was super focused on her because she was the first female American astronaut, but she handled it with class and grace and a healthy dose of who gives a fuck:
    Wikipedia wrote:
    Prior to her first space flight, she was subject to media attention due to her gender. During a press conference, she was asked questions like, "Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?" and "Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?" Despite this and the historical significance of the mission, Ride insisted that she saw herself in only one way—as an astronaut.

    Post NASA, she continued to be an active participant in getting women interested in STEM, wrote books, gave speeches, started a company focused on just that. I won't list all of her copious awards, but of note is that President Obama posthumously awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. While Sally was understandably tight lipped about her personal life during her life, her partner of nearly thirty years (Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy, prof emeritus of school psychology at San Diego State) was able to accept this on her behalf.

    rqm3HxQ.jpg

    Also Janelle Monae wrote a song about her, so badass lady intersection go:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rfc1THeisE

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    MetalbourneMetalbourne Inside a cluster b personalityRegistered User regular
    vsove wrote: »
    I am also super lucky that I work at a company where instead of getting a meeting with my departmental director when I say something angry and loud about MRAs or what have you, I get retweeted by them and have it noted as a positive on performance reviews.

    Best advertisement for bio ware right here

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    TrippyJingTrippyJing Moses supposes his toeses are roses. But Moses supposes erroneously.Registered User regular
    Usagi wrote: »
    Fire Truck wrote: »
    NO YOU CAN'T

    YES I CAN

    This took me a minute.

    b1ehrMM.gif
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    Darth WaiterDarth Waiter Elrond Hubbard Mordor XenuRegistered User regular
    edited May 2014
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    so, Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics and David Malki of Wondermark have had this thing going where they make fake book covers in Photoshop to horribly slander each other, resulting in

    *snip*

    See, if this was two friendly rivals just fucking with each other, I might actually laugh at it. But from what I can gather from that image, it's legitimately people being shitty to each other and in the nastiest way possible.

    Edit: I am the weakest link.

    Darth Waiter on
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    KadithKadith Registered User regular
    I try to call people out on misogyny and sexism at work.

    but mostly I listen so that I can at the very least correct my own thoughts and behaviors and use my white male privilege to support the voices that can have a hard time being heard in our current culture.

    zkHcp.jpg
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    HeadCreepsHeadCreeps NOW IS THE TIME FOR DRINKING! Registered User regular
    Wait, it's not two friendly rivals fucking with each other?

    vEaRQgH.png
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    I Win SwordfightsI Win Swordfights all the traits of greatness starlight at my feetRegistered User regular
    edited May 2014
    vsove wrote: »
    I call out a lot of people I know when they make sexist, misogynistic comments.

    The biggest thing I try to do - I try and use my privilege to push back against the patriarchy. I've only got about 2K followers on Twitter, but whenever something happens I make sure to retweet women, amplify voices and also take a firm stand myself. I've got a little bit of influence (not much, but some) and I try and use it in a positive way.

    A lot of that just involves getting out of the way of women who want to talk. Because my role in this isn't to tell women's stories, or to mansplain. It's to not be one of -those- guys, and to push those men around me to also not be one of those guys.

    I guess I do this but tumblr not twitter but the bolded part oh god

    I honestly haven't had as much trouble calling out misogyny and then yknow like resolving it and teaching a lil something along the way

    As I have trying to explain and raise sympathy and compassion for not using words like "rape" frivolously or even just the legitimate idea of trigger words and trigger warnings

    It is an issue that means a lot to me and people just don't get it, they seem to want to defend to the death the "right" to use a word that makes other people super uncomfortable instead of just using ANY alternative

    Grinds the shit out of my gears

    I Win Swordfights on
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    tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    so, Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics and David Malki of Wondermark have had this thing going where they make fake book covers in Photoshop to horribly slander each other, resulting in

    *snip*

    See, if this was two friendly rivals just fucking with each other, I might actually laugh at it. But from what I can gather from that image, it's legitimately people being shitty to each other and in the nastiest way possible.

    N... No? They're good friends?

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    TrippyJingTrippyJing Moses supposes his toeses are roses. But Moses supposes erroneously.Registered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    so, Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics and David Malki of Wondermark have had this thing going where they make fake book covers in Photoshop to horribly slander each other, resulting in

    *snip*

    See, if this was two friendly rivals just fucking with each other, I might actually laugh at it. But from what I can gather from that image, it's legitimately people being shitty to each other and in the nastiest way possible.

    http://bookwar.tumblr.com/

    b1ehrMM.gif
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    WybornWyborn GET EQUIPPED Registered User regular
    North and Malki are super pals

    Malki is a savage with those book covers though

    dN0T6ur.png
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    UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    also "Andrew Dworkin" is the best joke on that fake book cover

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    tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    I got in from kind of a depressing walk today and browsed through twitter and FB and saw all the responses to the latest horrible event, and just got so depressed and stressed. Like, almost everything I saw was awesome and heartfelt and thoughtful, not at all shitty. But it was in response to shiftiness, and I just got so exhausted and pissed off that all this pushback is still, constantly, overwhelmingly necessary.

    So I'm glad this thread exists it feels like a space to relax, and where feminism and the simple act of standing up for yourself don't have to be justified and defended all the damn time.

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    Darth WaiterDarth Waiter Elrond Hubbard Mordor XenuRegistered User regular
    Oh holy shit.

    I feel super dumb and also incredibly relieved at the same time.

    Thanks for the correction, you guys.

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    bowtiedsealbowtiedseal Registered User regular
    Excellent poem by Patricia Lockwood called rape joke (trigger warning)

    http://www.theawl.com/2013/07/rape-joke-patricia-lockwood

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    KochikensKochikens Registered User regular
    Yeah I realized a while ago that as one of the few females working in a HIGHLY visible entertainment media form (especially popular amongst males) I have a huge fucking obligation to try and do my best to make sure that:


    1) More women work in this field

    and

    2) I never just quietly sit back and accept shit as it is and fight for women and quiltbag stuff as much as I possibly can



    and trust me, I do. I really really try my hardest. When I was younger I'd just roll my eyes, but now I fucking say something and I like to think that I hear less shit these days. And I am incredibly fortunate to work in a very feminist pro-women company and in general pro-lgbt company, so when I say stuff and raise my voice, it's always met positively. Which owns. It owns so much, you guys.

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    WybornWyborn GET EQUIPPED Registered User regular
    edited May 2014
    There's an underlying assumption among men who resist feminist ideas (even when they would benefit men, such as in divorce proceedings where custody of children might be in question) that utilizing one's privilege in the pursuit of equality, or even acknowledging that privilege, is tantamount to giving up that privilege without receiving the benefits of equality (because there can't be equality instantly, after all).

    But that isn't really how privilege works, I don't think: telling a friend of mine that he has issues with women that he needs to work on, or arguing with people with whom I disagree concerning portrayals of women in the media, isn't tantamount to giving up privilege. That shit doesn't go away like that.

    I don't remember where I was going with this

    Wyborn on
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    MetalbourneMetalbourne Inside a cluster b personalityRegistered User regular
    Kochikens wrote: »
    Yeah I realized a while ago that as one of the few females working in a HIGHLY visible entertainment media form (especially popular amongst males) I have a huge fucking obligation to try and do my best to make sure that:


    1) More women work in this field

    and

    2) I never just quietly sit back and accept shit as it is and fight for women and quiltbag stuff as much as I possibly can



    and trust me, I do. I really really try my hardest. When I was younger I'd just roll my eyes, but now I fucking say something and I like to think that I hear less shit these days. And I am incredibly fortunate to work in a very feminist pro-women company and in general pro-lgbt company, so when I say stuff and raise my voice, it's always met positively. Which owns. It owns so much, you guys.

    It struck me the other day that I get misgendered more often when I speak out at meetings and offer my own opinion at work.

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    KochikensKochikens Registered User regular
    tumblr_inline_n5j5qjBqV31swsomb.png

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    Probably because women have been systematically written out of history.

    What astrophysicist Edward Charles Pickering did , assembling a team of female scientists, such as Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt and Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, to do the work for him, is known as the harem effect and is a common phenomenon in science history.

    tumblr_inline_n5j69f7Fj41swsomb.jpg

    We are often taught in history class that while men contributed to creating the world we live in through their inventions, discoveries and conquests, women lived oppressed, shielded lives. In reality, women scientists, leaders and inventors have played an important role in the making of our civilisation, they just haven’t been given credit for it.

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    LiiyaLiiya Registered User regular
    Excellent poem by Patricia Lockwood called rape joke (trigger warning)

    http://www.theawl.com/2013/07/rape-joke-patricia-lockwood

    holy shit

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    BeastehBeasteh THAT WOULD NOT KILL DRACULARegistered User regular
    tumblr_n5o6vezggX1raqgcro1_1280.jpg

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    LiiyaLiiya Registered User regular
    On one of my first days of uni one of my tutors said "Have you guys noticed this part of the course is called The Landscape Of Man? I think I'm going to complain about that and get it changed" and I admired her for that, it stuck in my mind.

This discussion has been closed.