What kind of feminist are you?

[TheLastMohican]

I like that term my dude. I have also heard the term referred to as humanism.

Humanism already refers to a moral/philosophical system, though (the most common variety being secular humanism, to which most atheists subscribe). It would exclude sexism (I think), but it's about much more than that.

Ever tried goggling the masculinist movement? Interesting stuff.

Hmm, they do bring up good points, but it shouldn't be a counter to reasonable forms of feminism. Their grievances are mostly results of their own sexism throughout history. Society tends to coddle women, and deny them liberties seen as "too big for them to handle," while neglecting to protect men, believing that their duty is "tough it out" and "run things." Both sides of sexism are real problems, it's just that feminism got more attention earlier, because there were some major legal issues to deal with, like the right to vote. The grievances of masculinism are more subtle on the whole (except, perhaps, the requirements of the draft).

I'm not sure about total gender equality (that is, equal treatment in all areas of life). I don't approve of the draft or selective service registration, but with its institution assumed, I'm hesitant to say that females should be subjected to it as well. Men and women are different, and war is one of the extreme cases in which those differences are highlighted. Let's face it, men are more expendable, and better at fighting wars. Children tend to fare better when taken care of by their mothers. The home front and the battlefield would both be made most efficient by gender separation, and that might take priority over our ideals of gender equality.

I believe men are women are for all practical purposes equal, because we are mutually dependent for the survival of the species, but I think we should not feel too bad about making the most of our differences, rather than trying to be the same.

 

[Shai Gar]

I cannot stand the idea of maternity leave. There are already too many people on earth and the government wants to force companies to pay a woman to do absolutely no work at all while she adds to the overpopulation of the planet?

Disgusting. Why couldn't she adopt?

 

[Creon]

Gender-Liberal
You scored 83% Gender-Abolitionist, 100% Sexually Liberal, and 20 % Socialist.

 

[rory]

Housewife

You scored 33% Gender-Abolitionist, 40% Sexually Liberal, and 40 % Socialist

You are the housewife feminist. You aren't very philosophical or political, but rather personal and practical. Housewife feminists feel there is no need to drastically restructure society or government in order to help women. You tend to feel that individuals can make their own lives better, and restructuring society is either pointless or too extreme to achieve these goals. You are also a very moral type of person, and tend to see the plight of women through a moral lens, not wanting to oppress others in woman's attempt to relieve their oppression. You also tend to see men and women as being very different from each other, and certainly not as equals. Some housewife feminists will even see women as superior to men because they have better qualities, such as more compassion. Normally, you would probably be classified as the "Cultural" feminist, because you emphasize the differences between men and women, tend to lack political motivation, and are not concerned with sexual liberation. I have called this position the housewife feminist, however, because someone in this category could easily be confused with a '50s housewife--simple, non-political, accepting gender roles, holding traditional moral values, and having little sexual liberation. However, it is important to note that this does not mean the housewife feminist isn't concerned with the women's movement. Rather, they are concerned for women as individuals and see the radical philosophies of other feminists as impractical or misguided. You resemble a '50s housewife on the surface, but beneath the exterior beats the heart of a true feminist

 

[Madison]

Gender-Liberal

You scored 83% Gender-Abolitionist, 60% Sexually Liberal, and 20 % Socialist

 

[Nausus]

Gender Abolitionist

You scored 83% Gender-Abolitionist, 40% Sexually Liberal, and 40 % Socialist

​

You are the Gender Abolitionist type of feminist. This means that you feel the best way to destroy patriarchal oppression is to rid ourselves of misguided gender roles, and instead live in a society that does not make such marked assumptions about gender differences. The Gender Abolitionist is culturally radical, but rather conservative when it comes to sexual liberation and politics. You have a strong sense of human rights for all. In fact, you are actually a very moral person. You don't see people in terms of gender and are thus very philosophical in order to perceive the world in such a manner. You think people shouldn't identify others in terms of gender. When most people see a person, the first thing they think is "That person is a woman" or "That person is a man", but they do NOT think "That person is a short-fingernail". Most make someone's gender their IDENTITY, but fingernail length would never be considered part of their identity. A gender abolitionist would claim gender should be like fingernail length--it shouldn't be part of someone's identity. By making gender a part of identity, difference is emphasized and oppression is often justified. Thus, gender shouldn't be regarded to such a large extent by society. You are mostly concerned with seeing women become fully equalized with men by eliminating gender roles, as these roles oppress women.

 

[Puck]

Your result for The Feminism Test ...
Housewife

You scored 33% Gender-Abolitionist, 20% Sexually Liberal, and 40 % Socialist


You are the housewife feminist. You aren't very philosophical or political, but rather personal and practical. Housewife feminists feel there is no need to drastically restructure society or government in order to help women. You tend to feel that individuals can make their own lives better, and restructuring society is either pointless or too extreme to achieve these goals. You are also a very moral type of person, and tend to see the plight of women through a moral lens, not wanting to oppress others in woman's attempt to relieve their oppression. You also tend to see men and women as being very different from each other, and certainly not as equals. Some housewife feminists will even see women as superior to men because they have better qualities, such as more compassion. Normally, you would probably be classified as the "Cultural" feminist, because you emphasize the differences between men and women, tend to lack political motivation, and are not concerned with sexual liberation. I have called this position the housewife feminist, however, because someone in this category could easily be confused with a '50s housewife--simple, non-political, accepting gender roles, holding traditional moral values, and having little sexual liberation. However, it is important to note that this does not mean the housewife feminist isn't concerned with the women's movement. Rather, they are concerned for women as individuals and see the radical philosophies of other feminists as impractical or misguided. You resemble a '50s housewife on the surface, but beneath the exterior beats the heart of a true feminist.

Househusband would be more accurate, but yes, that's me. Absolutely - the onus is on the individual to take responsibility for how they lead their life, and this obviously impacts on their sphere of influence. Change is always best served by influence rather than revolution.

 

[Koba]

Your result for The Feminism Test ...
Radical

You scored 83% Gender-Abolitionist, 20% Sexually Liberal, and 100 % Socialist

You are the Radical Feminist! You believe that virtually every aspect of society needs to be restructured in order to destroy the oppression of women. You have very radical socialist politics and a very radical perception of gender. You feel that all gender roles need to be destroyed to make women fully equal with men. People would not even perceive others in terms of gender if you had your way, because this only reinforces a heterosexual, patriarchal worldview. We tend to say things like "That person is a woman" as opposed to "That person is a big ear", meaning that gender is often perceived as part of our very identities, while having big ears is not. You would assert that gender should not be regarded in such a manner, as it emphasizes differences over equality, and justifies oppression. You may also tend to see sexuality as a means for oppression. You may think that abortion is a moral wrong because it justifies the oppression of another living being, in much the same way women are oppressed. So while you are very radical politically and culturally, you also tend to be morally conservative and have a strong sense of right and wrong. Basically, you feel that major cultural and political changes need to be made to best help the feminist cause.

The Marxism description describes me better. My main problem with radical feminists is that they think the contradiction between men and women is the primary contradiction. Otherwise, they make a lot of good points and are generally progressive, but this error on their part ends up stifling their ability to bring about change.

I think what got me Radical Feminist was my sympathy to gender abolitionist ideas, which hasn't historically been part of the beliefs of Marxists. I have a wider range of ideas and circumstances to draw from, though, so I can still see myself as carrying on in their tradition more so than the tradition of the radical feminists (although I respect and try to learn from both of them).

This was actually a pretty good quiz.

Edit: Well now that this got me thinking, I really do seem to have accepted many of the beliefs of radical feminists, albeit from a Marxist perspective. That's pretty interesting.

I think I need to give "Feminism and Philosophy" another shot...

Second Edit: One thing that gave me a hang up was the abortion question. I'm not really comfortable with abortion, but I would rather see the technology surrounding contraception be developed than abortion banned. Actually I would rather see men be sterilized before abortion is banned, although still as a second to developing technology, but that's a different story.

 

[acd]

Second Edit: One thing that gave me a hang up was the abortion question. I'm not really comfortable with abortion, but I would rather see the technology surrounding contraception be developed than abortion banned. Actually I would rather see men be sterilized before abortion is banned, although still as a second to developing technology, but that's a different story.

I don't celebrate abortion, either. I'd never have one. But I'm not against abortion just because I couldn't go through with having one. I think that contraception needs to be made more available and that education regarding contraception should be way more available.

 

[Bt4fl]

Housewife

3/100 You scored 17% on Gender, higher than 3% of your peers.
10/100 You scored 40% on Sexuality, higher than 10% of your peers.
17/100 You scored 20% on Class, higher than 17% of your peers

I knew my numbers would be low. I'm all man baby!

 

[Faye]

The kind that doesn't hate men and is a man?

 

[acd]

Are you implying that feminists usually hate men?

Not this one!

 

[Bt4fl]

I hate all other males for a very specific reason (that I don't want to talk about, and no I wasn't butt raped by my uncle or something... I just don't wanna go into the 3 pages it would take to post and properly explaine it) untill they prove to me that they are not the way that I hate.

Another product of my childhood... *sigh*

 

[acd]

Well, then could you give a very short reason for why you hate them? Now you've peaked my curiousity.

 

[Shai Gar]

Fine, I hate you too.

 

[Koba]

I don't celebrate abortion, either. I'd never have one. But I'm not against abortion just because I couldn't go through with having one. I think that contraception needs to be made more available and that education regarding contraception should be way more available.

Eh, I can't have one, so obviously that's not my reason for being uncomfortable with it. I don't really even understand what pregancy is like, but I do know that by the time a fetus has developed, it's clearly alive according to scientific standards of life, and it has many characteristics of a seperate lifeform. At the same time, anti abortion laws coerce women into situations that they don't want to be in, as evidenced by things like higher birth rates when abortion isn't available. For me this makes the Liberal dichotomies ("pro choice" and "pro life") quite limiting. So I think the best thing now would be to expand contraception that prevents the fetus from developing in the first place, making forms of contraception more available to people and people more aware of them like you've said, and even funding more research related to contraception and fetal developmet when there isn't a clear use for it (yet).

I think sterilizing men comes at a second to this, because it would not limit men in the same way banning abortion limits women. Sperm could be stored before the surgery is carried out, and then be called upon if there was a desire to have children, and men could still otherwise go about normally in their endeavors with women, minus impregnating them. There would be no unplanned pregnancies, and thus no need for abortion. The end result is that no one has to change their lifestyle and no fetal life is destroyed. The fact that anyone advocates banning abortion over opposing abortion this way is quite revealing.

I probably would have supported this stance in the less technologically advanced past.

 

[Shai Gar]

meh, if you want to know what it's like to create life, become a botanist or biochemist.

 

[IndigoSensor]

Psh, biochemistry is just simplified organic chemistry

 

[acd]

Koba, I agree with everything you said EXCEPT: I don't think men should be sterilized. I think that one invasive procedure should not be the solution to solving the other sex's reproductive rights issues. Doesn't sound fair to me. Women can take the pill and then stop taking it and their fertility is mostly unaffected. I don't like the idea of storing sperm then using it. What if some men decide later down the road they'd like to be a dad the good ol' fashioned way? Sterilizing men seems too finalized for me.

I personally believe that life begins at conception. But it's not something that can be proven. My beliefs are subjective, and so based on that, I don't think that it's right to force anyone into any action that they don't agree with. I'd never chastise any woman who chose to have an abortion; it's her body, it's her own choice. I'd just like to see abortions happen less and contraception get used more is all.

 

[Koba]

Koba, I agree with everything you said EXCEPT. I don't think men should be sterilized. I think that one invasive procedure should not be the solution to solving the other sex's reproductive rights issues.

This whole thing seems invasive to me- forcing women to go through with pregnancies, destroying fetal life, or forcing men to be sterilized. The difference is that the last one doesn't actually limit the abilities and options of men. Hell, I'm told that the procedure is not particularly unpleasant. Men are just emotionally uncomfortable with it, but emotions are not written in stone.

I personally believe that life begins at conception. But it's not something that can be proven.

Yes it can. Actually, the egg is alive before it's fertilized. This is a fact. Your skin cells are alive. When you scratch an itch, you're killing cells, they stop carrying out life processes. What makes the fetus different from a skin cell is that it has some qualities of a seperate lifeform, qualities that your skin cells don't have. All of these things are undeniable.

I'd never chastise any woman who chose to have an abortion; it's her body, it's her own choice.

I disagree with this line of reasoning as I'm clearly not saying (and haven't been saying in other threads) that people can do what they like with their bodies. I'm not opposed to it, but I don't just support it on principal. My objection on this end has to do with forcing women into mothermood etc.

This line of reasoning at least has the benefit of not being overtly sexist, but it's still very limited.