by sidewalk » Sat Jul 19, 2014 3:37 am
The "social progressivism" that is feminism is not something I agree with outside of 3rd world countries where inequality based on gender is nearly mandated. Call me a humanist, the goal should be equality, not the rights of a sect. How is it academically valid or realistically applicable to subject your personal experiences with harassment based on gender to legislation? Does this phenomenon of "domination" (male/female dominated fields) exist on both sides of the fence? It does, so pin-pointing instances is a complacent tactic being used to further an agenda. It's not right that a female should feel targeted by her male counterparts in a field such as engineering, but how do you compare that to the alternative (ie. male nurse jokes) and "train" society otherwise?
Maj's point is that the two genders are treated separately throughout development, and thus chose different paths. However, is this a topic that feminists should be fighting to change? Absolutely not. It's not discrimination against women (if it is, it's just as much discrimination against men), and there aren't men/women/the patriachy/the matriarchy/the reptilian agenda pulling the strings behind the parents and teachers having expectations for their son or daughter. This idea takes a female perspective of male dominated fields and sets out with an initiative to find somebody to blame. When ab167 says "this fields is male dominated" she is only stating a fact, yet is using it as a decisive tool to prove a point. Although, the "point" she has is unclear. Are you proposing that it is inherently bad that more men are in this particular field than women? That women have been persuaded and influenced throughout their life to choose otherwise? Would you be saying the same had the roles been reversed? I can guarantee you've been in a situation where you a part of the majority, and a/the minority felt discriminated against. Yet since it wasn't you, it is not of memory or acknowledgement. How is your experience with "guys counting girls in the class" comparable to elsewhere? Are a few people making jokes enough for you to say that women are irrefutably seen as lesser beings in this field? Is this cognitive (confirmation) bias or societal discrimination?
To summarize, what 'is' and 'isnt' valid and changeable discrimination? Does counting the amount of girls in your engineering class equate to sexism or lackluster humor based on sexual desire? Is your professor not stepping in a sexist action or a difference in tolerance? Is bullying among small children more prevalent amongst males or females, and if so, is that sexism? Is having different initiatives for your son than your daughter sexism or is it based on subjective ignorance? It's not like slavery or segregation. These 'gender roles' aren't plastered on signs and people don't go to prison for not doing as 'expected' of them. There needs to be a more testable, provable, and re-workable groundwork for such claims, because as it stands, everything comes down to subjective experience and interpretation (in this context).
With that said, where is the talk about men vs. women in divorce and/or custody cases? Or the incarceration rates? Why is it that we understand the reasoning behind why certain races make up the majority of the prison population (based on region), yet we can't understand any circumstance where women are a minority? Do we continue to completely ignore biological factors when talking about sports or the work force? Does rational discussion go out the window because we are talking about a subject that has a reputation for people to militantly disagree with you because they have the right to 'take offense'? Everything in here seems like vague questions and then people heroically overgeneralizing against contentions that haven't been raised.