Feminism pt 1

[cinnazimt]

Emi asked me the other day if a certain book from the feminist canon was worth reading.  I suppose it depends on one's perspective...there are a billion different types of feminism, afterall.  So I have a group of questions I'm going to be asking, to get a feel for what kind of feminists we all are...and possibly narrow it down better for myself.

Comments

To note, I don't consider myself a feminist.

[dreamlit]

C, for some reason, seems to stick out in my mind as most important, though I definitely am for and against particular items listed within it. Genital mutilation has to go. Shaving - I'm a fan but I don't really care what other people do (guys can shave, too, if they want to... women don't have to if they don't want to). Anorexia has to go. Prostitution needs to go. Pornography needs to go. Masterbation (for guys, too) needs to go. Women's health is super important. Rape needs to go. ETC.

Women need to respect themselves and their bodies. Men need to respect women and women's bodies.

B then is next most important. Suffrage is necessary. Sexual harassment needs to stop. Maternity leave is necessary. I'm not too sure what the revision of marriage/divorce/custody laws menas. Single-sex education is a really interesting concept (usually very attached to the idea of uniforms for me) which should be an option along with co-educational schooling. Etc.

Then there's A which I'm mixed about. Wages... I suppose should be more equal but I think a lot of it stretches to the fact that they should be equal professionally. Though then this issue is all mixed up according to profession anyway (teachers making less money than professional athletes and people in business). Then there's the division of labor which I'm not sure how that would be changed exactly. Affirmative action I'm very up in the air on. Economic independence I'm up in the air on too. etc.

And then I don't really have much of a concern with D or E, though maybe I should with E (starring the Biblical interpretation but footnoting Catholicism for my own personal thinking).

Re: To note, I don't consider myself a feminist.

[cinnazimt]

Revision of marriage/divorce/custody laws covers all kinds of things., and remember these are questions of how the state should cover things -- which may or may not be the same as how your faith handles them.

How easy should it be to get married? How shall marriage be defined? What about common law marriages? How easy should it be to get divorced? Remarried? Who has the right to custody? Should temporary marriage licenses be available?

In some cases this means abolishing marriage all together and bringing in community-oriented programs and registries -- other times it means requiring couples to have children. Etc., etc., etc.

Re: To note, I don't consider myself a feminist.

[dreamlit]

Interesting... hmmm... more to think about, huh?