A Movement is Building

All over the world, men are taking a stand for gender equality. See how many men in your country have committed. Join them and move your country into the lead.

Take a look at this site and do your bit sign up!

http://www.heforshe.org/

Only 186 men in Portugal o:

What about men's right to abortion etc?

Feminists ultimately want to move themselves above men, I'm alk for equality but not going to join a movement as it doesn't interest me that much

Sorry runar, i think you're wrong. Maybe some women want to see themselves above men like some men want to see themselves above women. However, feminism is about gender equality not female overlords.

There are a couple of really interesting videos I've seen in the last few days. Will post them in here when I get home from work.

Sorry runar, i think you're wrong. Maybe some women want to see themselves above men like some men want to see themselves above women. However, feminism is about gender equality not female overlords.

There are a couple of really interesting videos I've seen in the last few days. Will post them in here when I get home from work.

Most feminists act in such extreme ways it makes them look bad and the cause look like it is about more than equality for all

My impression of modern feminism is similar to Runar's. Maybe it is because key advocators have taken the egalitarian ideal to disproportionate levels. For example, we have a political party known as the Feminist Initiative (they nearly made the parliament in the recent election and probably will in the next). True to their name, they fight for "equality". Their suggestion to tackle the wage gap between men and women was to impose a "man tax", where men pay a tax for no other reason than being a man. The idea is absurd to me, because 1) not all men make more money (average statistics are skewed by minorities) and 2) it fails to do something about the actual problem. It's also worth noting that simply because a reason hasn't been found as to why some men make more money, it doesn't necessarily have to mean that women are systematically discriminated. One possible explanation could for example be that men are better at getting what they want, i.e. better at wage bargaining. Naturally, the man tax suggestion was met with some outrage, but the criticism was fended off by statements like "we don't have to listen to it because it's largely coming from men".

Swedish media is seemingly supportive of this as well. For example, Sweden's largest newspaper has a columnist who supported the man tax with the following arguments:
1. Women should in fact make more money than men because women work more (supported by "feminist research").
2. Women menstruate.
3. Women buy stuff that cost money (partly related to argument 2, but things like pregnancy bras were mentioned as well).

You may think that this can't be real, but sadly, opinions like these are not at all uncommon in modern feminism.

As a feminist, it saddens me that so many people have the wrong idea about feminism.

Radical feminists, aka the extremists are the ones which want women to be socially, politically and economically above men. These are the ones which get the majority of the media's attention, therefore spreading an ideology of feminists being "man-hating women" - which then leads to the word feminism having negative connotations linking to that ideology. These "feminists" are a minority and do not embody what feminism truly is.

Liberal feminists (like me) are the majority, and these are what the majority of those who identify as feminists stand for. Liberal feminists simply want both genders to be equal - we aim for gender equality.

Feminism is honestly and simply equality for both genders, and I wish more people would know that.

I signed purely for equality...

i rarely see any inequality these days (Within my work) which is a good thing, but i don't want to see it either.

I don't like the idea of feminism. Or any -ism for that matter. It separates us as humans and separation creates conflict.

If we get past the idea of men supporting women and work together as humans helping humans Earth would be a better place. It is human=human. Not male=female. Not male<female.

In the real world men and women will never be equal.

The vast majority of men are physically stronger then females.

I do agree that if a man and a woman do the same job to the same quality then they should be paid equal amounts.

However if I was an employer of a small company and a male and female came for a job I would more than likely give the job to the male, lets be honest the vast majority of  women will have children and take up to a year off, and then will have issues until the children are independent.

My impression of modern feminism is similar to Runar's. Maybe it is because key advocators have taken the egalitarian ideal to disproportionate levels. For example, we have a political party known as the Feminist Initiative (they nearly made the parliament in the recent election and probably will in the next). True to their name, they fight for "equality". Their suggestion to tackle the wage gap between men and women was to impose a "man tax", where men pay a tax for no other reason than being a man. The idea is absurd to me, because 1) not all men make more money (average statistics are skewed by minorities) and 2) it fails to do something about the actual problem. It's also worth noting that simply because a reason hasn't been found as to why some men make more money, it doesn't necessarily have to mean that women are systematically discriminated. One possible explanation could for example be that men are better at getting what they want, i.e. better at wage bargaining. Naturally, the man tax suggestion was met with some outrage, but the criticism was fended off by statements like "we don't have to listen to it because it's largely coming from men".

Swedish media is seemingly supportive of this as well. For example, Sweden's largest newspaper has a columnist who supported the man tax with the following arguments:
1. Women should in fact make more money than men because women work more (supported by "feminist research").
2. Women menstruate.
3. Women buy stuff that cost money (partly related to argument 2, but things like pregnancy bras were mentioned as well).

You may think that this can't be real, but sadly, opinions like these are not at all uncommon in modern feminism.

I cannot believe those are real arguments lol! I mean I've never bought something that was free and I'm a man?!

In the real world men and women will never be equal.

The vast majority of men are physically stronger then females.

I do agree that if a man and a woman do the same job to the same quality then they should be paid equal amounts.

However if I was an employer of a small company and a male and female came for a job I would more than likely give the job to the male, lets be honest the vast majority of  women will have children and take up to a year off, and then will have issues until the children are independent.

Basically this ^

It's the same in my workplace, there is no inequality between male and female employees.. We're all paid the same and treat the same. It's hard for me to have much oppinion on feminism at all due to the fact I don't really see any of it in my day-to-day life (or not that I can tell).

Wow - I guess my experience is different.  I am an Electrical Engineer.  I have a wonderful husband who is a Computer Engineer.  I have had a lot of bosses who couldn't care less about my work experience or my skills and other ones who valued them.  Because of my autoimmune issues, I am a stay-at-home mom but my husband has never made me feel like my not working makes me a smaller part of the team.  We have always shared our income and choices equally.  He helps out at home - I try to support him at work - sometimes I will even help him with a work project if it is something I can do at home. 

Whenever you look at most groups - there are always wacky people who are sometime the loudest but the more I read about feminism - the more I agree with a lot of it.  I want to raise men who are not threatened by other people but are compassionate and caring.  I don't want their behavior dictated by what someone else is or is not wearing or doing.  One of the things I love about my husband is that he is comfortable with the fact that I am extremely smart.  He actually appreciates it. 

I remember being in grade school and not getting a math award I was supposed to get because I scored highest on a test.  The official explanation was that I would marry well someday but the boy who they gave it too needed confidence because he would need to support a family.  At the time, it didn't really register with me but it made my mom (who was a single mom supporting a family and getting paid about half of what her male math professor colleagues were getting although she was a very popular professor) mad.  I would hire someone based on their skillset, their work ethic, their ability to be part of the team. 

I don't think people should look at a columnist or a few people to look at a worldwide movement.  I also think that people should do the right thing and make the world a better place by making thoughtful decisions. 

Frankly - I think there are places we need to improve things for men as well as women.  Right now, in the U.S. , education is geared towards the majority of girls.  Sitting quietly in a circle, the grades at which different concepts are taught, even a lot of the subjects were set up by predominantly female teachers and don't work as well with a lot of boys.  We need to make sure everyone can thrive and is appreciated for what they bring to the table.  The more people in our society who are valued and contribute - the better off we will be in the long run.

Without someone (and it can be male or female) putting effort in and nurturing the next generation, our society is kind of doomed.  I don't think it is a good thing to hold that against them.  As an engineer, I didn't work at any company for less than 5 years.  There were many male engineers who worked shorter terms.  I guess I am lucky people didn't look at me and say well you are eventually going to have kids - let me hire a male engineer.