Feminist Theory & "Women's Issues" Discussion Thread: All Gender Identities Are Encouraged To Participate

My friends and I have a delicate way of referring to misogynist gay men: "Is he one of those 'eww, I smell FISH" kinda guys?" Definitely a *thing* in the '80s/'90s, much less so now.

yeah, "EWW VAGINAS!" is definitely a thing amongst gay men, ~*tHx pAtRiArChY*~

gay coworker always made out with his female friends when he was drunk, like that's the thing you do when you're friends with him. they all do it is the crazy thing. he's been in a committed relationship for 15 years, I am friends with his partner too...amd friends with some of the girls he makes out with & it pisses me the fuck off when he just assumes he can do it, so I try to stay away from him. He tried once & got pissed at me when I told him to take a hike. "it's just fun, jeez why are you being so bitchy about it"
because i'm not part of the lady-banquet, is why.

"it's just fun, jeez why are you being so bitchy about it" is the great patriarchy leitmotiv.

i have other gay friends who don't behave like that at all though, are totally chill with women & boobs etc. not that I ever pressed them about it. so I was always more inclined to say that one guy was just a conflicted self-involved weasel. idk

misogyny in the gay community is p rampant

yeah, it's pretty thoroughly ingrained, like i don't really think it's cool for gay men to refer to their own assholes using female anatomy terms

maybe that's specific to gay porn but afaict 100% of gay men watch porn

whats wrong with callin your turdslicer a manpussy or w/e... doesnt seem like a big deal

xp Oh boy, that's a whole new low that I'd never heard of.

In general though, not to gainsay the article because I believe it, but also to keep in mind that when the free expression of humanity/sexuality has been suppressed and everyone has their own possibly fucked up journey to get there, some modes of expression will still show the...scars? I want a less judgmental word than "scars" but I'm kind of in a hurry so. I agree, access to women's bodies is assumed across society, incl gay men, for sure let's work to reduce that. I just don't feel good about coming down on gay men with both boots on when lots of facets of the public performance of "gayness" (I'm skipping right over a ton of nuance here, sorry) are responses to the repressive environments people developed in.

um is this a trend now?

http://www.vice.com/read/gay-men-and-their-not-so-cute-misogyny-problem

Yeah, like H*****4A**, I don't have any sort of problem with the m**-p**** contstruction

well, it reinforces a gender binary wrt penetrative sex, first of all

http://www.autostraddle.com/butch-please-butch-with-a-side-of-misogyny-174442/

Can't find the original article but it reminds me of the Grindr CEO, Joel Simkhai, who said that as a gay men, he understood women better and that would the reason why Blendr will be such a huge trustworthy success.

is that a good source, autostraddle?

are you makin a joke mate

excited to click on autostraddle.com when i get home

They should call it a manfrontbottom.

manladybits

still so excited you guys

some good discussion in the comments posted to that autostraddle piece

um is this a trend now?

http://www.vice.com/read/gay-men-and-their-not-so-cute-misogyny-problem

― goole, Monday, May 20, 2013 2:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this has never not been a trend tbh

yeah, i just meant, articles about it!

the first example on that link surely accepting that "that's what gay people do" is kind of the homophobia?

xpost

mancunt

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2013/06/14/191568762/at-the-movies-the-women-are-gone

^^ this is old, old news that hasn't really changed in decades, but it is worth repeating at frequent intervals to remind people how fucked up this is.

Bechdel test, innit

(may not have used "innit" properly, idk, not british-ist)

I'm kind of annoyed at myself for never questioning the 'fertility drops off a cliff after 35!!!!' attitude but also glad I've never really done anything whatsoever about it whenever I've thought about the kids issue:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/07/how-long-can-you-wait-to-have-a-baby/309374/?single_page=true

Chris Crass wrote a pretty badass book called Toward Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy, and he just posted a truncated version of one chapter on Feminist Wire. Great, great stuff for dudes concerned about patriarchy, imo.

http://thefeministwire.com/2013/06/against-patriarchy-tools-for-men-to-further-feminist-revolution/

Day-to-day patterns of domination, both institutional and interpersonal, are the glue that maintains systems of domination. While most of this list is focused on activist efforts, it is also important to bring our politics into our personal relationships. Far too often, activist men support feminism in their public life and retreat into male privilege at home. Going with the flow in personal relationships generally means going with the flow of domination; liberation requires consistent and conscious decisions to choose and create something different. Just like any other effort to win and create another world, set goals in your relationships to practice feminism. It will likely feel awkward, contrived, and uncomfortable at times to bring this level of attention to your personal life. When almost every aspect of society is based on and reinforces male supremacy, it should be expected that our steps towards feminist liberation will at times feel uncomfortable and awkward, and sometimes terrifying. Being clear on our goals, seeking help when we need it, and knowing that we can increase our capacity to live our values through practice, can help us also make feminist action a powerful and rewarding habit.

thanks for posting that, hoos

the book is really fantastic on the other subjects it covers too, dude is a real inspiration to me.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/p480x480/994806_1876638518162_1156697043_n.jpg

trollin

http://ideas.time.com/2013/08/23/women-should-pay-more-for-health-care

lol independent women's forum

It’s not discussed as frequently, but sometimes men are the ones paying more for certain purchases, like car insurance. Would it be fair to charge women more for it just to give men a discount?

didn't gender discrimination re: insurance premiums get banned in the uk? a rumour?

I have no idea about health insurance, because we have the NHS, but for driving insurance they can no longer give women cheaper premiums. Everyone has to pay higher 'men' premiums now (instead of meeting in the middle)

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/09/the_end_of_men_why_feminists_won_t_accept_that_things_are_looking_up_for.html

I understand that the big picture is not always reflected in women’s daily experience of life. Maybe a woman has an overbearing husband or a retrograde boss or just a lingering problem that has no name. But as a collective, it sometimes feels that women look too closely at the spot right in front of us. This is a moment, unprecedented in history—and also pretty confusing—when young women who work how they want and have sex how they want may also quilt and can fruits.

lol what

I loved quilting as a kid.

young women who work how they want and have sex how they want may also quilt and can fruits.
can fruits

Is that a question?

no, it's a verb!

that sentence is so weird but i do applaud the odd usage of quilt and can as verbs

whoever heard of quilting a fruit c'mon now

it just seems like rosin is arguing that feminists who speak out about gender inequality are just big irrational baby whiners who love to complain, and that any anger towards institutional sexism is overstated because... why?... because those bossy angry women on twitter have managed to get strident male chauvinists fired?

I was kidding! "Women may be able to quilt and have sex when they want, but can fruits?"

the patriarchy is dead, because more women are breadwinners working at jobs that can pay them less because they are women. qed.

the patriarchy is dead because more single mothers have to work more hours because they have to pay for childcare, which they need to have in order to work.

logic.

As a form of blogging or tweeting, pointing fingers is endlessly satisfying. But as a form of political expression, it’s pretty hollow and out of tune with reality.

hmmm.... this sounds sort of familiar, tho.... i wonder what mordy thinks about this