Do Feminists Ever Consider That They Might Be Wrong?

I wanted to ask any feminists on this site whether they ever consider the possibility that they might be wrong regarding their feminist viewpoints about the world?

One of the things that a professor of mine always told me was that its important for an academic (well for anyone really) to always keep in mind Socrates' famous line "All I know is that I know nothing." Meaning that as fallible human being, no matter how much learn, how much wisdom and knowledge we gain, we can't know everything. We can never see all sides of an issue, and we always have to be open to the possibility that everything we think we know about world might be completely wrong.

However one of things I've noticed about feminists is that they extremely resistant to anyone questioning feminist ideas, very often becoming angry when someone does so. I personally have even lost friendships with women just because I told them I didn't believe in feminism, or when I questioned the validity of certain feminist ideas. Because of this tendency I'm rather suspicious of feminist and feminists as I firmly believe that any ideology which does not allow people to question or doubt it is dangerous. And similarly, while not always dangerous, anyone who becomes angry with people just because they don't believe the same things that you believe to be mentally immature.

But maybe this is just because the feminists I've interacted with are mostly 18 to 20 year old university students and generally at that age people are filled with a great deal of moral certantity and the belief that they know everything (particularly about the evils of the world and that they are going to right them ^^). So I was wondering if there are any feminists here who are okay with people questioning and doubting feminism and feminist ideas?

I think any activist group can be wrong if taken to the extreme or they start to become ignorant of what their cause stands for.

With feminism the whole idea behind it is basically advocating for women to have equal rights (political, social, and economic) in relation to men. I don't wish to call myself a feminist since I am a mix of modern and traditional (I want to be able to cook and clean for my family, take care of the kids, as well as hold a job and be financially stable; so long as my man can help every once and a while lol). But I appreciate what the feminist movement has done for women for without them I wouldn't have the rights I do today.

This being said; I've seen the movement have setbacks and have issues. It's bothersome and a bit embarrassing to see women act like a child throwing a temper tantrum over issues. If you want to be respected as an equal you have to act more civilized and pressure the issue when the time is right. Screaming, showing your breasts to the world, beating people up, and making pig faces is ridiculous.

There is such a negative connotation to the word feminist nowadays that less people wish to be associated with the movement; it's kinda sad in a way.

In the end as a human I wish for two things in this lifetime of mine;
1) to be able to live my life the way I wish to live it
2) to be able to work hard to get by in life

A lot of what Misaki Chi said hits the nail on the head. At its core the feminist movement is about rights and it has come a long way. Only recently would I say has the internet sort of mutated it into this anti-establishment farce. Admittedly, a lot of what modern feminism wants is literally impossible. Firstly, other countries exist. They might be able to change America, but good luck in Africa or Asia. Another thing I've seen here and there is a goal to have both men and women treated exactly the same.

And yes, that sounds like something to work towards, but it will never work as long as gender roles and differences exist. Men are stronger. Society tells us to be strong and providers and anyone who isn't is a wussy. Women are better multitaskers and are more nurturing. Their bodies literally make food for babies. Now obviously women can be strong and dominant and all that and same goes for men and nurturing. But these natural differences exist and feminism can't deny them no matter what. So unless generations are indoctrinated with these ideals of complete equality (which is probably impossible with the internet), feminism will never be able to accomplish that goal.

Women and men should be equal in the eyes of the law. Any other feminist ideas should be promptly treated with the appropriate medication.

Seeing as how feminism is about gender equality, I do not believe that it is wrong. I do, however, believe that there are assholes and extremists who identify as feminist. I don't think that feminists should have to admit that maybe gender equality is wrong. Not to say that feminists cant have dubious views or do things "wrong", but when a "feminist" starts bashing all men or burns a book titled save the males then they are probably just an asshole and not a feminist.

Some do, but they're too proud to admit it.

From what I've seen of the movement most of what they seek now is just stupid stuff. Equality under the law and Equality of opportunity are good things and the right things to strive for, but for the most part those have already been achieved in the US and as far as I know most of Europe.

A lot of what Feminism seeks now is equality of outcomes which is just stupid. They'll look at a certain profession and see that men are making more then women and declare that the employers in that profession must be sexist. That's about as far as they go. They'll do that "analysis" over and over without looking deeper to see why there is a difference in pay. They just assume sexism.

I've seen other stupid stuff too like recently someone(cant remember who) said that women should learn to defend themselves against things like rape. The reaction to this was that women shouldn't have to defend themselves that men should just not rape. While this is of course true rape still does happen even though its against the law and we tell our kids growing up to treat women well and don't ever think of doing such a thing to women.

Well if you don't want to be raped then everyone should learn how to defend themselves against rape.
I for one think that men making more money just for having a cock is not a sign of equality.Saying that there is always a nondiscriminatory reason for difference in salary just sounds ridiculous.
Feminism doesnt have as much to fight for these days but there is still gender inequality for both men and women.
College is becoming an expensive luxury and if parents can help their children they typically help daughters more than son because guys can just tough it out.
Fair feminists dont just care about women they care about gender inequality as a whole.
At least they arent one of the groups that blame rape victims and slut shame.

Or people could, oh I don't know, not rape anyone.

I am a feminist. Women and men should be held equal in most any aspects that the world (first world countries specifically as they push their modern ideals). The idea of feminism is not something I think about being wrong on, because its core is just equality. However, the idea that feminism had become to men/media is something I am completely against. It's a shame that many women fall and fail to explain what they want in the moment because they go to such extremes that they are ridiculed. It's a shame that feminists are viewed this way, but I feel that when we are working toward a goal that wants to be equal we have to stay level headed in any discussion due to the automatic assumption that women are dramatic emotion creatures. When women rampage their views of feminism I find that they are actually setting us back. Misaki said it right though, their are downs to every activist group.

If you question the actions of the extremists of the feminist group then I will not be frustrated, however varying on other topics such as - rape or health care then I will get mad at you questioning me due to me believing my view is morally right. I wouldn't just end a friendship over something so little as not agreeing with me, varying opinions is great, it only becomes an issue when that is the only topic you bring up and argue with.

Saying that sexism is always the reason for a difference in salary just sounds ridiculous.



The problem with this is that just saying that doesn't solve anything. You are entirely correct people should not rape anyone but it still happens. we have laws against it we tell our children to treat women right and never think of doing such things but it still happens.

Hope for the best prepare for the worst.

On the whole subject of rape, it's a balance. Rape prevention and putting away rapist's is one part of the equation and women being taught how to defend themselves against any sort of assault is another part.

Something that I have a hard time with are some of the campaigns for rape prevention. One that my college holds (I forget the name of it) is basically telling women to dress like a (and it's in the campaign) "slut" and wear their hooker heels for the day and march proudly. The whole thing is to say that women can dress how they want to and this should not entitle any man to feel like they should have the ability to sexually assult said women...

To me there is a difference between sexy classy and trashy slutty. I love wearing high heels and a tight dress, but my ass never hangs out for the world to see and my tit's stay clothed unless I am at the beach in a bikini. I don't think that women should dress like Mormon's, but I don't think anyone would take a woman seriously when she can be compared to a hooker off of the streets of Detroit. Today's women feel like they have to show all of their skin to get attention or to feel beautiful. You can look amazing in a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt with an added dose of confidence.

One last note to add. The only thing I think I have ever had an issue with regarding feminists (this has happened with some, but I don't put this on all feminists) is that they get mad with the idea of me liking the idea of being a housewife and raising kids. I know the times I have talked about this, some would feel angry at my notion because we live in a day and age where a woman can be independent and do it all. I know my mother was a housewife and her man loved and respected her for the decision. He treated her like a queen and she loved being a trophy wife in essence. If I could do so I would do the same. I guess I just never saw why it was such an issue. As a woman it should be our choice as to how we live our lives and if some of us choose to be housewives then I don't see the point in getting angry over it. Again this was from more extreme feminist's and they were very ignorant about the cause they stood for.

I don't get the women who get mad for telling them that you can take some measures to ensure you don't get raped. Yes, when man rapes a women it is 100% mans fault, but you don't get mad for somebody telling you to lock your car when you park it in a public place.

If you leave your car parked in a public place, unlocked and doors open, and then it gets stolen, you don't say "we only have to teach people to not steal cars". No, you are an idiot for doing so and everybody tells you the same. The exact same way you take measures that your car doesn't get stolen or your purse doesn't get stolen in a club, you CAN take measures to ensure you don't get raped.

Unfortunately we live in a society where cars gets stolen and women get raped, that is a sad fact. To pretend these don't happen is just stupid. And to think the right way to battle this is to say "lets teach men to not rape" or "lets teach people to not steal cars" is naive and in the end ineffective.

The feminist notion of "rape culture" is one of the reasons I can't take feminism seriously. Humans have always taught their children that rape is wrong and no one in our society is teaching that its okay. Its just that there are criminals out there who decide not to obey laws. Its like how we teach people that murder and theft is wrong but in spite of that some people still steal and commit murder, yet no one is going around saying that our society has a thief culture or a murder culture.

I don't believe in feminism for a few reasons, over exaggerated rape statistic 1-4 women claim they are raped. False. 1-4 women claim sexual has occured and that could mean anything from rape to just a sexual comment.

Equal pay inequality is false, it's been shown the reason they have a pay gap isn't because men magically get more money it's because of the career choices they make.

Also the notion we live in a patriarchy is ridiculous if we did women wouldn't have rights at all, you wouldn't be allowed to vote, leave the house, you wanna see partial patriarchy go to Saudi Arabia and than complain.

Oh they already complain about Saudi Arabia they just don't go there. They think the Saudi's will hear their complaining 12,000 miles away :)

I don't know about Europe but in the US equality is taken way to far. Equality under the law and Equality of opportunity are fine and right but people go much further with the whole equality thing. Its almost like a religion to some people and they see evil where there is none through its lenses.

I personally think women have it pretty good here in america.
Still there always seems to be those few girls who want to have litteraly everything equal to men. We already have it to my knowledge, we just need to be dedicated and actually work for it instead of just saying we deserve the rights we were already given.

And i know at least one person who thinks women surpass men and that they should be inferior gender as punishment for years and years of women being "inferior" to men. After meeting her my friend gave up being as much of a femenist as she is. Crazy people out there.
Im fine with the way things are now. I feel like im bad at explaining sometimes so forgive me if this makes little sense

No. No one reasonable would go to such extremes.

I'm not even sexist but they execute their ideas is childish & embarrassing, they act like 7 seven olds if you try to defend yourself and use their little 'allies' to gang up on you on the internet and think telling men 'hey guys, don't rape' that it's just going to magically go away. At the end of the day, sexism, racism, homophobia will never cease because of ignorance.(this has happened to me on the internet) Maybe if they act more civilized and respected other people's opinions & didn't take feminism as a hobby, i'll have loads of respect for feminists. Besides most of these 'feminists' just seem to be tumblr, twitter keyboard warriors who just rant all day

Of course, was just trying to say that learning self defense is a good thing

Rape is a socially instated concept. At the base of humanity, there is no such thing as rape, simply a male finding a female to spread his "seed". I'm not for rape, but it's understandable that some people aren't as socially "awake" than others and still keep pulsions of having sex without, socially instated, consent. You have to understand that people are not born with laws and ethic; some are not receptive to them and some haven't been taught properly.

So, no one will ever be able to fully terminate the thought and act of what people refer as "rape" in every single human unless you biologically modify them. It's more than a good advice to have people know how to defend themselves at least a little bit. Basic self-defense education should be a thing in schools starting at high-school.

Also, inb4 some mindless cunt calls me a rape apologist.