I bet badbabysitter calls this a Rightwing rag: A Feminist denounces radical feminism

[LJ_Reloaded]

http://www.blogher.com/raising-son-within-princess-culture-1

I grew up the daughter of a feminist. Mom was always involved with local association of women chapters and always made sure I knew that girls could do ANYTHING.

I went to an all girls school for grades 8, 9, and 10. Those were prime years for defining a sense of self. I was surrounded by teachers and staff that were empowering. I never once had a moment in my life where I paused and thought, “I can’t ______ because I am a girl.”

When I found out that I was going to have a son I was so surprised. A boy? What?

Immediately I had visions of this super aggressive and dominant child. Isn’t that what they are? They are The Man. They are the ones oppressing women. And now I was going to have to parent one. No opportunity to continue the “girl power” culture that I loved so much.

But a funny thing happened when I met my son -- I started to realize how destructive girl power can be to boys.

Let me be clear: I absolutely know that there is a need to make sure that girls and women know that what is between their legs should not limit them to achieve anything that their heart is guiding them towards.

But here is what I sadly realized: Within modern girl power there seems to be a message that girls are better than boys. Boys are BAD. Boys are MEAN. Boys are silly, weak, stupid, clueless, rough.

There are also a lot of double standards when it comes to proclaiming, “girls can do anything!” I have seen parents celebrate that their daughters play with trucks or pick out boxers as underpants. Look! See! Nothing holding this girl back!

This sort of celebration does not happen when a boy picks up a doll or Dora undies.

The modern princess culture seems to be that you can wear a pink dress and still climb a tree. You can love to dance and twirl and still play baseball. You can wear a crown and overalls. I think this message is fine. And I agree with it. Kids -- you can do it all!

Except the point isn’t “kids, you can do it all”, it is GIRLS can.

 

[LJ_Reloaded]

I am raising a feminist son in the sense that I want to make sure he knows that women and men can be and are equal. I have written before about chivalry; I believe it is a courtesy to extend to all. We don’t hold open the door for a woman just because she is a woman; we hold it open because we can and because it is the kind thing to do. We also hold the door open for men -- because we can and because it is the kind thing to do.

Yup, this feminist is smarter than any feminist on Literotica, ever.

 

[LJ_Reloaded]

Bump. Because every last person on Lit could - and must - learn a lesson from this particular kind of feminist.

 

[badbabysitter]

actually, this is a common feminist theme

boys are being taught they cant like " girl " things all the time.. and it has nothing to do with feminism... its about boys being taught to like boy things.. its a construct meant to trap men in their gender roles every bit as much as girls are being taught to like girl things,,why does no one celebrate when a boy picks up doll.. probably because its not " manly" and that's the problem


the author of this blog conflates this with girl empowerment overwhelming empowerment for girls.. there is an arguement that can be said for that.... girls are encouraged to do more things to break their gender roles... but boys arent... in fact boys are celebrated by reinforcing their gender roles

but you're not asking why boys arent... and neither is the author.....

 

[LJ_Reloaded]

actually, this is a common feminist theme

boys are being taught they cant like " girl " things all the time.. and it has nothing to do with feminism... its about boys being taught to like boy things.. its a construct meant to trap men in their gender roles every bit as much as girls are being taught to like girl things,,why does no one celebrate when a boy picks up doll.. probably because its not " manly" and that's the problem


the author of this blog conflates this with girl empowerment overwhelming empowerment for girls.. there is an arguement that can be said for that.... girls are encouraged to do more things to break their gender roles... but boys arent... in fact boys are celebrated by reinforcing their gender roles

but you're not asking why boys arent... and neither is the author.....

No, she's not conflating anything. She's saying that the girl empowerment movement has gone off the cliff with their extremism.

She understands that there's feminism, and then there's radical extremists who've lost their ever loving minds. Kind of like Wahhabism in Islam and the right wingers in Christianity.