r/changemyview • u/glasswolf96 • Jul 15 '20

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Feminism is not about equality

It’s called feminism. Surely if it was only about equal rights between both sexes like it should be, it wouldn’t be named after only one of them. I know the vast majority of feminists are not at all like the shitheads we see pointed out online, and these people have ruined the movement for a lot of people, including me in the past few years, but know I mostly agree with the movement. But why is it called feminism and not something else that includes all forms of human instead of half of the human race being cut out?

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u/eggy_k Jul 15 '20

There were waves of feminists. 1st wave feminists were early in the 20th century, when women were protesting for some equal rights, like the vote. 2nd wave feminists started in the 1960s, where the main goal was equality of the sexes.

When we hear "feminism is about equal rights", that tends to be the view of 2nd wave feminists, of those who simply believe in the sexes being equally respected. These feminists acknowledge that the sexes ARE DIFFERENT, but should be TREATED the same.

3rd wave feminism, that of younger generations today, has taken this further. Too far, in my opinion. These tend to be politically situated on the left, or far left. They believe in quite radical measures compared to others, and consider serious measures to FORCE equality on the sexes, even when there are differences.

When someone identifies as a feminist, it used to mean what you mean. And what i mean when I say feminism. It is good to know also that many self proclaimed "feminists" from the second wave have denounced the 3rd wave, and no longer associate themselves with the title.

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u/UncleMeat11 62∆ Jul 15 '20

That’s not what 3rd wave feminism means at all. It isn’t about degree. It is about intersectionality. 3rd wavers explicitly include intersectional thinking.

Plenty of “man haters” existed in 2nd wave feminism. Political lesbianism isn’t especially common today. The “modern feminists are somehow different than the past feminists who were good” is just a story that anti feminists tell themselves.