Feminism

[Tora]

that in the US it is still not that uncommon for male higher ups to withhold promotions to women who refuse to give them sexual favors.

Yes, and that is called Quid Pro Quo Harassment. Which is illegal by the way. Simply provide evidence that is is occurring and boom problem solved.

Women should be allowed to focus on their careers without being given ugly labels.

Ugly labels such as?

[Nilla]

If you legitimately feel that your job situation falls under those guidelines, go ahead and take it to court.

The people who have the least amount of resources to be able to take something to court, tend to be the ones who are taken advantage of. If you're not getting paid enough, you likely won't be able to take it to court because court takes money.

You do pose an interesting economic question, though. My take on it is that it's an subconscious thing. People tend to value women's work less, so they pay them what they think the work is worth. But they don't hire exclusively women because women's work isn't as good, and nothing would get done if a company was exclusively women!

[Carl]

that in the US it is still not that uncommon for male higher ups to withhold promotions to women who refuse to give them sexual favors.

Yes, and that is called Quid Pro Quo Harassment. Which is illegal by the way. Simply provide evidence that is is occurring and boom problem solved.

Women should be allowed to focus on their careers without being given ugly labels.

Ugly labels such as?

It's not always so simple as providing evidence, however, Tora. In an ideal society that would be the end of it, but sometimes it is deep in the company, and it is necessary to hire lawyers and go through extensive processes that can deter many people (either because they can't afford the lawyer or suspect the company would come out on top anyway, or are just intimidated or what have you).

And ugly labels that aren't MLK friendly, the most common one starting with a b.

[Tora]

So how do you think feminism can combat that issue out of curiosity?

[Braveheart]

What? Maternity leave 1.5 years? Here is only total 8 weeks. 4 weeks after, 4 weeks before giving birth. Also equal pay act. Ha. Only apply to USA...

[UncoordinatedPisces]

My opinion on feminism has changed and morphed over time. I personally do not identify as a feminist EVEN THOUGH I fit the criteria. Now before anyone jumps down my throat I'm going to explain why very briefly. Do I believe women should be equal entirely to men? Yes. Are there men's issues that feminism often puts to one side and ignores? Certainly. Do I believe there are areas of society where women have not yet reached that equality? Yes...but, there needs to be more focus from modern feminism on the countries where women really are being systematically oppressed. I do not believe that in Western countries, women are experiencing that same oppression.

What? Maternity leave 1.5 years? Here is only total 8 weeks. 4 weeks after, 4 weeks before giving birth. Also equal pay act. Ha. Only apply to USA...

This implies that things are unfair in Braveheart's country, why is feminism not doing more about that?

I'm going to put my hands up and say it that I don't like the word feminism. It is exclusionary of a whole gender from the get-go. I also do not like SJW movement that seems to go hand in hand with the ideology, I get the feeling they want to control everything around them and when someone says something they don't agree with, they want to censor them and force them out of the internet space. The kind of people that think this is a bigger problem than the sterilisation of women in India (which I believe was occurring at the same time).

[Squeely]

Actually calling that rape culture, and tying the word rape to it doesn't make much sense. It devalues the actual rape victims.

I'm an actual rape victim, and I don't think it devalues me or my experiences one bit. I have not spoken with other victims though, as the subject is still triggering for me, so perhaps they feel differently.

[S1mb4 D4 L10n]

The statistics are misleading because the commonly reported "77 cents to a man's dollar" was taken from a study that compared women's pay to men's pay across all industries. Looking into the study it is found that this is because there are more women in low paying jobs than men, such as teaching or art. Whereas more men tend to go into STEM fields which often pay more.

When other factors are taken into account, such as the disparity between the average amount of hours, vacation leave, and parental leave (to name a few), the claim of a gender pay gap based upon sexism. Im typing this on my phone at the moment, so it may not be as eloquent. You can read more at the link below. http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall ... 6a9be05a64

Edit: I certainly agree with Amy. If we want to fight rape culture, let's start with countries that legitimately have a rape culture. Such as India, in which sexism is both institutional and cultural. That is where we need feminism.

[Tora]

Actually calling that rape culture, and tying the word rape to it doesn't make much sense. It devalues the actual rape victims.

I'm an actual rape victim, and I don't think it devalues me or my experiences one bit. I have not spoken with other victims though, as the subject is still triggering for me, so perhaps they feel differently.

And I feel sorry for you. There is no excuse for rape. No one has the right to do that to anyone. I'm sorry that happened. Forgive me if my opinions or thoughts have caused you pain.

[Carl]

So how do you think feminism can combat that issue out of curiosity?

Raising awareness would help somewhat, though on its own isn't enough. Also getting more work places more evenly employed could help, but it's not a guarantee. The thing that will help the most is for businesses to be more upfront about sexual harassment policies and remind employees of these policies every so often, maybe once a year, and for appropriate action to be taken against offenders (of course some businesses already do this). It is a difficult task to be sure, but that doesn't mean it doesn't need to be undertaken. Also, the men who are harassed shouldn't have to feel ashamed of admitting it and having the problem taken care of, and better policies could help with that too.

Edit: At S1mb4 and Amy; Yes other places do need such things more than the West does, and I don't think anyone here will deny that. We still need here though. Transgender people especially need movements like true feminism in order to be able to function in our society.