FAQ: Don’t women have “female privilege”?

Short answer: No, what is commonly called “female privilege” is better described as benevolent sexism. Systems like the draft and chivalry often seem advantageous to women at first glance, but when examined more closely they in fact reinforce sexist institutions that keep both women and men from true equality. Also, it should be noted that, [...]

FAQ: But doesn’t evidence show that women are just as likely to batter their partners as men?

A: No. This is an often repeated claim based on either faulty understanding or outright misrepresentation of a few studies made using the CONFLICT TACTICS SCALE (CTS) or similar self-report surveys. One of the authors of the original study, Richard Gelles, categorically rejects this interpretation of his research, and has done ever since these [...]

Feminism Friday: Addressing claims of “female privilege” - The Military

Chances are, whether or not you identify as feminist, if you’ve read much about women’s issues you’ll have heard of the Male Privilege Checklist. You also may have heard of at least one of the various Female Privilege Checklists that were made in response. I’m not here to rebut either of those lists word for [...]

FAQ: But don’t all these DNA exonerations mean that women lie about being raped?

A: No, what it means is that some prosecutors in the past proceeded to court solely on the basis of identifications without corroborating physical evidence, mostly in cases of stranger-rape, and that they convinced the juries in those cases that the identification was valid, when later evidence shows that the identification was mistaken. New [...]

In which the moderator apologises for dropping the ball

I have been distracted over the holiday break, and this has meant that over the last month or so I have allowed some commenters through whom I would normally have cut off at the pass. The tone of the blog has suffered badly as a result. Those commentors are aggressive and are discouraging [...]

FAQ: What’s wrong with saying that things happen to men, too?

Short answer: Nothing in and of itself. The problem occurs when conversations about women can’t happen on unmoderated blogs without someone showing up and saying, “but [x] happens to men, too!” (also known as a “Patriarchy Hurts Men, Too” or PHMT argument, or a “What About The Mens?” or WATM argument). When this happens, it [...]

Feminism Friday: SotBO (Statements of the bleedin’ obvious)

Rational people often assume that some opinions and judgements are so obviously part of their worldview that they really don’t need to be said. Unfortunately, some maliciously disruptive people take delight in assuming that if something has not been clearly stated then they are safe in assuming the worst of others, even when such assumptions [...]