Thread: Feminism

Originally Posted by sailor jack

I think the most important thing to remember with feminism, as well as any label really, is that it is not a fixed set of ideas. That is why many institutions teach modules entitles "Feminisms".

There is a plurality of opinions which overlap, contradict and take issue with each other.

For example: if we take the "Pornography Debates", someone like Andrea Dworkin uses monolithic, fixed Feminism to argue that pornography is the rape of all women. She is apparently oblivious to the fact that Angela Carter is pro-pornography, but argues for a "moral" pornography. The monolithic Feminism is debunked by the mere existence of another point of view. But both seek the protection of women from a patriarchal power structure which would seek to control them.

Some argue that the controlling patriarchy is all but gone. Some argue that it is more controlling than ever.

I am a Feminist, in that I argue that women have equal status (in my mind). Equal consideration is not the same thing as equal treatment.

In Leila Hessini's essay "Wearing the Hijab in Contemporary Morocco", there are interviews with women who say the same thing. It is not that women are oppressed in Muslim society, they just occupy a different space. That is their culture.

We may take issue with this culture, but I think that it is a fallacy to say that Muslim women are oppressed (in this circumstance).

I think the West has something to learn from this. Women and men have different skills, but there will always be women with skills more commonly found in men and vice versa. It is equal consideration that will liberate all parties, not equal treatment that will only hinder progress.

Can you explain the difference between equal consideration and equal treatment? I'm not sure if I disagree with you or if I don't understand what you are meaning.