Category Archives: FAQ

FAQ: Aren’t feminists just sexists towards men?

June 3, 2007 · by · in FAQ, FWW, gender, man-hating, masculinity, sexism, spot the strawfeminist

AKA Aren’t feminists just “reverse sexists”? Short answer: Neither feminists as a group, nor feminist theory, engages in sexism or “reverse sexism” against men. Often times the feminist focus on women’s issues, as well as their recognition and continued efforts to correct the imbalance of power (see male privilege), are seen as looking to privilege […]

Feminism Friday: Rape Jokes Aren’t Funny

May 19, 2007 · by · in clarifying-concepts, Feminism Friday, no-sense-of-humour, victimhood, violence

Late, I know, and not much from me: I’m just pointing you at these three posts below from Melissa McEwan at Shakesville. Trauma-Trigger Alert: Melissa describes her own rape in harrowing detail in order to point out how rape is not funny, and although the discussion threads start out thoughtful and interesting, they end up […]

FAQ: But men and women are born different! Isn’t that obvious?

May 10, 2007 · by · in clarifying-concepts, FAQ, FWW, gender, identity, oppression, privilege, sexism, spot the strawfeminist

That idea is known as “essentialism”: the belief that there are uniquely feminine and uniquely masculine essences which exist independently of cultural conditioning. Both actual (minor) and alleged (major) differences between the sexes have been used to justify inequities and constraints which harm women emotionally, financially and physically. Even where (and if) such differences do […]

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Open Thread: Top 5 Introductory Texts

April 21, 2007 · by · in introductory, recommendations, writings

Reader A suggested: I was also interested in book suggestions, but I think that the LibraryThing might be a little too involved (the interface looked a little confusing to me). I think what would be nice would be either a simple, concise list of the five to ten most influential books or essays, or a […]

Feminism Friday: Safety vs. Patriarchal Overprotection

April 20, 2007 · by · in clarifying-concepts, Feminism Friday, op-ed, privilege, Sexuality & Health, violence

Reader Justin wrote and asked me for advice on an ethical balance problem, and with his permission I quote his email: I have a question which has been bothering me for some time, and which may/may not be worth addressing on the site. In any case, its something I don’t feel precisely comfortable asking my […]

FAQ: What can I do for feminism?

April 19, 2007 · by · in FAQ, feminism, introductory

At the simplest, just talk to other people about your feminist ethics. This lets them know that normal people like their friends, neighbours, workmates and relatives can be feminists and still be friendly and sane. Volunteer some time to an organisation which helps women. There is a wide variety of organisations, some overtly feminist and […]

FAQ: what do you mean by “Not my Nigel”? (feminist abbreviations/jargon)

April 17, 2007 · by · in clarifying-concepts, FAQ, feminism, feminisms

[2013-01-10 Update: some broken links fixed to point to revised URLs - thanks to the reader who reported!] Like any other field of debate and controversy, a lot of issues and positions in feminism end up being discussed so often that they are abbreviated for convenience into acronyms, initialisms and shorthand phrases that make up […]

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