A while back, I wrote about radical feminists (linked below). These women tend to be anti-tradition and extreme in their thinking. They feel that women are oppressed by being wives and mothers, yet they don’t mind oppressing women themselves to make sure women make the “right” choices. Right by whose standards?
It is important to note the distinction between feminists and radical feminists. I don’t want anyone to think that I am wholly against feminism. While I do not consider myself a feminist –at least not by most definitions- I do agree that overall the women’s movement has been beneficial for women.
I agree with equal pay for equal ability. I agree with women being treated with respect and being offered the same positions and benefits as men if they are equally as capable. I believe that women should be treated fairly and should of course, be allowed to vote. I don’t agree with affirmative action or lowering the bar for women. That to me is manipulation. It says to me that somewhere, someone doesn’t believe I can make it on my own merits and that I need “a leg up.”
I also don’t do the whole man bashing thing. I don’t feel oppressed in my home. I don’t hate men, or fear them in general, nor do I feel like an “animal” when caring for my home and children. That is the radical element’s influence, and I’m just not buying it.
While women should be treated fairly and should be given equal opportunities, I don’t agree with a notion of equality that claims that women are no different from men. We are different, and I embrace those differences.
I think women can seek fairness and equal opportunity without demanding that people pretend we are exactly the same as men or expecting that we be treated better than men as some sort of reparation for the past.
Please, feel free to share your feelings on the differences between fairness, feminism, and radical feminism. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Related Reading:
Radical Feminism Takes on the “Mommy Bunch”