• CON

    Feminism would be looked at as much more positive if they...

    Feminism is wrong

    It's good to see you do not hate feminism because you are a misogynist. But there is one tiny thing in feminism that in itself is not wrong: Men and women having equal rights and oppertunities. The only thing is that the men's side of it is often ignored. But the fact that over the centuries women have been treated as nothing more than objects and property of men to be disposed of at any time gives them a reason to feel victimized. It is easier for men to be against feminism because over the years society has favored, respected and raised them to idols while women were crushed down, oppressed, disrespected and treated as nothing more than baby machines. Feminism would be looked at as much more positive if they would focus more on men's problems but i think the thing people forget its that sometimes when they reject feminism, the embrace masculism. and i think masculism is just as hypocritical ad feminism, some masculists want to put women down and raise men up once more and what makes that anymore right than vice versa? masculists want women to give up their jobs and be the traditional housewife and bear and take care of their children but get angry when custody goes to the mother if they divorce and go on a rant about it. How is any of this right? The reason i am not a feminist is because even when the feminist movement first started women were encouraged to be like men and dress like men which i don't think is right. women should not have to give up their feminimity to have careers. But other than that, so long as feminists are fighting for men's rights just as much as women's rights and are not rejecting their feminimity to and be masculine, i have no problem with feminism

  • PRO

    Thank you for accepting my debate, these are my...

    Feminism is stupid

    Thank you for accepting my debate, these are my arguments: Feminism is irrelevant in the 21st century and the idea of its existence is stupid altogether and here's why: 1. Feminism is only recognizable in the First World countries where feminism is no longer needed. 2. Feminism rarely addresses issue that men also face, which is ironic considering feminism is created for the equality of both men and women. An example of this, is men dying in wars and in the wilderness. Most feminists don't want to admit that both men and women both suffer whether it maybe present or in the past 3. Women who call themselves feminist barely do anything besides constant whining. If they really do care about other women they would be fighting for other women's rights in third world countries. 4. All feminists blame the plight of women solely on men (aka "the patriarchy") and not various social and economic issues in society. 5. When you argue with a feminist they usually say "you don't know what its like to be a woman", instead of telling us the relevance of feminism in the modern age 6. Patriarchy is nonexistent. If it were to be true, women wouldn't have the ability to vote, drive, study, get jobs, or get abortions. 7. All feminists are almost always based on the individual's self-interests and not in actual gender equality. They want men to be subservient to women and use feminism as the way to achieve this goal. They want rights handed to them that would no longer benefit men, but do not want to get rid of the "traditional" gender roles that have benefited women. 8. The RICH have always held power, not men. In fact, basic human survival dictated women have always had to be more important than men, because men cannot get pregnant and continue the species. Women have always been more important than men, which is why women never had to fight in wars or do the laborious work in society, up until recently. 10. Feminists are sexist without even realizing it. They victimize women to the point one might think all women are handicapped weak and helpless frail members of society, when they are not. 11. Feminism has its own agenda of self-interest. 12. If you don't label yourself as such, you're apparently against them. Feminism loves to recruit and wage wars more than working towards a common goal. 13. Most women don't hate men (or see them as intellectual inferior and "not responsible for their own stupidity", or blame them for everything bad that happens to them), thus, couldn't be feminists. 14. Many feminists have double standards beyond just benefits and "privileges" in society. Call men stupid, weak, helpless, fools, and laugh at the idea of their penis getting chopped of by a psycho woman? Its okay to feminists, but don't you dare call a woman stupid, weak, helpless, fools, or laugh at the idea of female mutilation! 15. Feminism, as evidenced in its name is not about equal treatment towards the sexes and gender equality. Feminism, by definition, is the idea of working on the issues of women in order to gain "gender equality."

  • CON

    In major cases of divorce, men pay alimony. ... In major...

    Feminism

    What feminism has become is a synonym for man hating. In major cases of divorce, men pay alimony. In major cases, for the same crime, a woman on average, will be handed a lower sentencing. How is this fair??? Please respond with only facts and generalizations based upon those facts.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Feminism/22/
  • CON

    If she is being payed equally then she will be content....

    Feminism is not equality

    It's my pleasure to debate you. 1) Establishing the definition of feminism From Wiktionary {1} Noun feminism (countable and uncountable, plural feminisms) 1. (obsolete) The state of being feminine; femininity. [from 1851; less common after 1895] Q95; 2. A social theory or political movement which argues that legal and social restrictions on women must be removed in order to bring about equality of both sexes in all aspects of public and private life. From Encyclopedia Britannica {2} Feminism, the belief in the social, economic, and political equality of the sexes. Although largely originating in the West, feminism is manifested worldwide and is represented by various institutions committed to activity on behalf of women"s rights and interests. From Merriam Webster {3} Definition of feminism 1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes 2: organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests 2) Conclusions from definition As you can clearly see, equality is inherent to the definition of feminism. If someone violates the tenets of feminism, i.e., equality of sexes, it is not the definition of the word that is compromised, but merely the integrity as a feminist of the individual that violates it. A simple syllogism suffices to demonstrate this: Belief in God and Jesus Christ makes one Christian "Man A" believes in God and Jesus Christ "Man A" is a Christian And of course, the contrary holds true as well: Disbelief in God and Jesus Christ makes one non-Christian "Man B" doesn't believe in God "Man B" is not a Christian No one would argue that if a man who claims to be Christian denounces the existence of God, Christians no longer believe in God. That man simply stops being a Christian. This same logic will apply to feminism as well. Belief in the equality of sexes makes one feminist "Woman A" believes women are superior to men "Woman A" is not a feminist Therefore your premise is flawed, in that the conduct you described would not be the conduct of feminists. 3) Refutation of opponent's points Of the three points my opponent makes, none actually support his premise that feminism is not equality, as they are all sensationalist promulgations with no facts to support them. You claim some women hate all men and wish they were all dead. This is probably true, as there are many women in the world, and it's more likely than not that at least one of them feels this way. However, the same applies to men as well, and there is likely at least one man that wishes all women were dead. Neither of these points say anything about either group as a whole, as those individuals have no mandate to speak for those collective bodies, whether the body in question is man, woman, or feminism. The claim about the wage gape has no bearing on my argument. If a (female)feminist is being payed less for the same work as a man, she would no doubt be upset and wish to rectify the situation. If she is being payed equally then she will be content. As far as employment goes, women work in every profession mentioned by my opponent. I consider these three points I've made so far as self-evident, and believe they require no substantiation. Pro's testament that there are also female rapists is not salient to the discussion. It is also worth noting that the two sentences in conjunction in his second paragraph seem to imply that men are being raped by women in prisons. The is completely untrue, and the source used to support it is a study on men being raped by other men in prison. Of course in the U.S., the world leader in incarceration rates{4}, this couldn't possibly happen as prisons are gender segregated. The second source provided by my opponent is just a blog reflecting the opinions of one who is not an authority on the subject, and is not credible for sourcing. 4) Summary In summary I would like to leave a quote that bolsters my two avenues of argument (definition of feminism, poor sourcing and presentation from my opponent). "Feminism is an interesting word. It suffers from being an ""ism". First, people make the assumption that feminism is only for women. Second, people mistake feminism for an ideology, something you either believe in or not, and third, many people still view feminists as dogmatic or dangerous. The irony is that these stereotypes are exactly what anti-feminists have wanted us to believe, since the suffrage movement began in the 19th century. As I see it, true feminism is simply to stand up for equality. In the words of Gloria Steinem, "a feminist is anyone who recognises(sic) the equality and full humanity of women and men." Where does this come from you ask? It is an excerpt from an article titled "Equality isn't just a women's issue, it's a human one", written by Carlos Moedas. The interesting thing about this is that I am not the one who introduced this article to the debate. This is a direct excerpt from the article linked to by Pro's third source, which contradicts his own argument, and strongly supports mine. {1} https://en.wiktionary.org... {2} https://www.britannica.com... {3} https://www.merriam-webster.com... {4} https://en.wikipedia.org...

  • PRO

    We need feminism because if someone never told them they...

    Feminism is necessary

    Feminism is defined as "the advocacy of women's rights in the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." So many people still wonder why we need feminism, why any woman in this day and age would call herself a feminist. The word itself has become a dirty word. Instead of seeing it as something good, the idea of feminism has been warped and shaped into something cruel and oppressive, something that supports abortion on demand. Feminists are seen as man haters and women who want to take over and eliminate men. Many still ask the question "Well why do you still need feminism? Women have the right to vote, go to school, own property, etc." We need feminism because if someone never told them they were wrong, men would always treat women as objects, like a subordinate, like property. Feminism is the fight against this. But that's over now, right? That's no longer necessary? We fought our war, but now we are done, right? Men have not evolved from their original nature. Men have not surpassed and outgrown their feeling of superiority over women. Every single thing a woman does is sexualized. Girls are sent home from school for wearing yoga pants because "It's distracting to the boys." Fifty year old men will cat call 12 year old girls on the street. Girls are taught to walk down the street with their key between their fingers in case they are attacked. In cases of rape, women are asked, "Well what were you wearing?" We are told "You must have been asking for it." Girls are taught to cover themselves up instead of teaching boys not to rape. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, "In 2014, female full-time workers made only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gape of 21 percent." Feminism is not a hateful idea. Feminists are people who believe in equality of the sexes. Yes women have the right to vote and to own property. Yes we can go to college. But we are not yet treated equally. This is why feminism is 100% necessary.

  • CON

    In some places men have fewer rights, while in other...

    Feminism is for equality

    So, are you agreeing that feminism isn't promoting equality? Cause that is my (con) stand. Feminism as such has become the belief that women should be made superior to men. This is against gender equality. In some places men have fewer rights, while in other places women have rights but they don't know about it/ don't exercise it. But feminism or menism isn't the solution. We must make a stand for equality, liberty and freedom, and judge each other on our capabilities rather than our gender, race, religion or any other nonessential detail.

  • CON

    However, there is one point the opponent made that I have...

    Feminism

    Since my opponent has forfeited the last round, my argument for this round will be shorter in length, and I will mostly expand on points I have already made. However, there is one point the opponent made that I have not elaborated on enough. My opponent says that feminism is called what it is because, in history, there have been more instances of inequality towards men than women. This is true. However, now I believe society is equal, so there is no need for feminism. Instead, I think we need to pay attention to the larger collection of human problems. Starvation, sicknesses, oppression of women IN THE MIDDLE EAST, murder, and all of the other issues humanity faces should be a priority. Not focusing on a problem that does not even exist. I meant men for my third argument. Typo. But other than that, my argument stands strong. I am curious as to why my opponent forfeited the last round. Was it because they could not provide me with statistics? I wonder if anybody in the comments can. Regardless, thank you for reading.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Feminism/6/
  • PRO

    Geraldine Ferraro [4] "People think at the end of the day...

    Modern Feminism

    The idea that Con promotes appears to be: Real feminism, which is about equality between the genders, is superior to modern feminism, which is about promoting women over men. I disagree. WHAT IS MODERN FEMINISM? Con: "Modern feminists (Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, etc.) support pushing for women to not only be equal but actually have MORE rights and privileges than men." Hillary Clinton seems to like equality: "Equal pay is not yet equal. A woman makes 77 cents on a dollar and women of color make 67 cents... We feel so passionately about this because we are not only running for office, but we each, in our own way, have lived it. We have seen it. We have understood the pain and the injustice that has come because of race, because of gender. And it's imperative that... we make it very clear that each of us will address these issues." -- Hillary Clinton [9] And Michelle Obama doesn't seem to support Pro's statement: “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens. .... Leadership is about creating new traditions that honor the dignity and humanity of every individual. Leadership is about empowering all of our people— men, women, boys and girls,” she said. “When we commit to that kind of leadership across the globe, that is when we truly start making progress on girls’ education.” -- Michelle Obama [10] Are these isolated viewpoints in modern feminism? No. The following are all quotes by feminists living today or within the past 5 years: "In my heart, I think a woman has two choices: either she's a feminist or a masochist." -- Gloria Steinem [4] “A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” -- Gloria Steinem [1] "I always get asked, "Where do you get your confidence?" I think people are well meaning, but it's pretty insulting. Because what it means to me is, "You, Mindy Kaling, have all the trappings of a very marginalized person. You're not skinny, you're not white, you're a woman. Why on earth would you feel like you're worth anything?"" -- Mindy Kaling [2] “Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” -- Cheris Kramarae [3] "We've chosen the path to equality, don't let them turn us around." -- Geraldine Ferraro [4] "People think at the end of the day that a man is the only answer [to fulfillment]. Actually a job is better for me." -- Princess Diana [4] "We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back." -- Malala Yousafzai [6] "We still live in a world in which a significant fraction of people, including women, believe that a woman belongs and wants to belong exclusively in the home." -- Rosalyn Sussman [4] “Equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women, and the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it. We need equality. Kinda now.” -- Joss Whedon [5] "Feminism is not a dirty word. It does not mean that you hate men. It does not mena you hate girls that have nice legs and a tan, and it does not mean that you are a bitch or a dyke, it means that you believe in equality." -- Kate Nash [6] "Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties. Its battles have been for education, for the vote, for better working conditions…for safety on the streets…for child care, for social welfare…for rape crisis centers, women’s refuges, reforms in the law. If someone says, “Oh, I’m not a feminist,” I ask, “Why, what’s your problem?”" -- Dale Splender [7] "I guess I am a modern-day feminist. I do believe in equality. Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are? Why do you have to label yourself anything?" -- Beyonce Clearly, many major voices within modern feminism have loudly supported equality. WHAT IS "TRUE" FEMINISM? Con: "The real feminists (Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, etc.) are the women that want EQUAL treatment, rights, abilities, and opportunities." I'll agree that Sarah Palin broadly agrees with feminism. However, consider how close she comes to the quotes I've presented above: "I'm a feminist who believes in equal rights and I believe that women certainly today have every opportunity that a man has to succeed, and to try to do it all, anyway. And I'm very, very thankful that I've been brought up in a family where gender hasn't been an issue." -- Sarah Palin [12] It seems clear to me that "modern" feminism and "true" feminism are very likely one and the same. On the other hand, Michelle Bachmann seems somewhat against feminism: "I rise today in opposition to this bill [creating a bipartisan commission to study the idea of putting a women’s history museum on the National Mall] because I believe ultimately this museum that will be built on the National Mall, on federal land, will enshrine the radical feminist movement that stands against the pro-life movement, the pro-family movement and the pro-traditional-marriage movement." -- Michelle Bachmann [12] Michelle Bachmann's viewpoint appears to be closer to that of Con: That feminism today seeks bad goals. SUMMARY Simply because there are some feminists who support female supremacy, does not mean that the whole of feminism (or even modern feminism) is invalid. Ultimately, "modern" feminism is fundamentally the same as "true" feminism. Back in the 70's, there were similar feminist extremists; neither then nor now are they a majority or influential. In the same way that all movements have bad apples, feminism has problematic members. Just because the civil rights movement had black supremacists and violent protesters does not mean civil rights was wrong. Again, we must look at feminism as a whole. And as a whole, feminism today continues to support the goals of equality between the sexes. [1] http://www.goodreads.com... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com... [3] http://www.goodreads.com... [4] http://www.feminist.com... [5] http://www.goodreads.com... [6] http://www.buzzfeed.com... [7] http://www.feministpeacenetwork.org... [8] http://mic.com... [9] http://www.huffingtonpost.com... [10] http://www.pbs.org... [11] http://www.bostonherald.com... [12] http://www.usnews.com...

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Modern-Feminism/2/
  • CON

    Given Pro's just attempted to dump a whole lot of...

    Feminism is stupid

    Given Pro's just attempted to dump a whole lot of arguments on me without any real justification or logical reasoning as a backup for this, I'll have to restrict myself to rebuttal this round and put forth substantitive next round. My substantitive should rest mostly upon the rebuttal I do this round anyway. >1. Feminism is only recognizable in the First World countries where feminism is no longer needed. This argument is entirely circular - it assumes that feminism is no longer needed in order to attempt to prove it isn't needed any longer. Logically inconsistent. >2. Feminism rarely addresses issue that men also face This is more an issue with Pro's weak definition of this motion more than anything, because it seems like Pro has defined feminism as the type of ideology expressed by the "SJWs get destroyed" type youtube videos which this vacuous idiocy of an argument stems from. >which is ironic considering feminism is created for the equality of both men and women Pro seems to be confused here. Are feminists people who want equality of men and women, or man-haters? This stems from Pro's idiotic assumptions which esesntially require the reader to assume his priors before agreeing. Nonsense. >An example of this, is men dying in wars and in the wilderness. this sucks, yeah, but this in no way is contributory to the subject of the debate >Most feminists don't want to admit that both men and women both suffer whether it maybe present or in the past blanket statements such as this require evidence without which we can ignore them >3. Women who call themselves feminist barely do anything besides constant whining. If they really do care about other women they would be fighting for other women's rights in third world countries. It's almost like people can both care about civil rights in first world countries and third world ones. This is another nonsensical blanket statement with no evidence present. >4. All feminists blame the plight of women solely on men (aka "the patriarchy") this betrays an incredibly weak understanding of feminist theory, which I would get into if Pro hadn't dumped a huge amount of, frankly, moronic arguments on me for me to rebut. The point here being that those who identify as feminist contend that economic and social issues are due at least in some part to historical oppression of women carried forward into the present day. Further, yet another blanket statement. >5. When you argue with a feminist they usually say "you don't know what its like to be a woman" Blanket statement, furthermore I'd contend that the burden of proof is on you - you have categorically failed to fulfil this burden. Idiotic, irrelevant. This, for some reason is a common strand through all your arguments. >6. Patriarchy is nonexistent. If it were to be true, women wouldn't have the ability to vote, drive, study, get jobs, or get abortions. This betrays, again, an unbelievably limited understanding of what the concept of patriarchy actually entails, which is that of historically male dominated society's prejudices being carried forward. Obviously there have been large strides toward sexual equality but it seems illogical to state that it's been eliminated - further, it seems that if men and women are indeed equal there would be roughly the same amount of men and women in high-paying jobs - some discrepancy, furthermore, would be acceptable, but the level we see is illogical and cannot be due only to randomness. >7. All feminists are almost always based on the individual's self-interests and not in actual gender equality. blanket statement >They want men to be subservient to women and use feminism as the way to achieve this goal. both a blanket statement and in no way constitutory of proof that "feminism is stupid" > They want rights handed to them that would no longer benefit men, but do not want to get rid of the "traditional" gender roles that have benefited women. most feminists would tell you that gender roles are bad and should be abolished in their entirety. pro seems to have an understanding of feminism as either the idiotic extremes of college campuses or the strawman pushed by certain outlets >8. The RICH have always held power, not men Flat out wrong. Consider pre-historic times - men were the leaders of tribes simply because they were physically stronger. Being strong isn't capital of any sort, though those who are strong tend to amass capital. 9 has apparently been skipped >10. Feminists are sexist without even realizing it. They victimize women to the point one might think all women are handicapped weak and helpless frail members of society, when they are not. blanket statement, misunderstanding of feminist theory. Weak argument. >11. Feminism has its own agenda of self-interest. Yet another normative statement with no proof. Who's surprised? Not me! >12. If you don't label yourself as such, you're apparently against them. Blanket statement, no proof, no reasoning >Feminism loves to recruit and wage wars more than working towards a common goal. no proof of this claim >13. Most women don't hate men (or see them as intellectual inferior and "not responsible for their own stupidity", or blame them for everything bad that happens to them), thus, couldn't be feminists. Right, that's the fourth straight misconception on the nature of feminism. Let me clear this up. Feminism is: The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.[1] It holds that there exist power structure which are bad for society (and as such both men and women) and as such should not exist. Next round, I'll hold forth on why these power structures do exist and therefore feminism isn't unncessary, >14. Many feminists have double standards beyond just benefits and "privileges" in society. Call men stupid, weak, helpless, fools, and laugh at the idea of their penis getting chopped of by a psycho woman? Its okay to feminists, but don't you dare call a woman stupid, weak, helpless, fools, or laugh at the idea of female mutilation! First, spare me the false outrage. Second, this is yet another un-backed-up blanket statement. You should really get that looked at. >15. Feminism, as evidenced in its name is not about equal treatment towards the sexes and gender equality. guess the dictionary is wrong >Feminism, by definition, is the idea of working on the issues of women in order to gain "gender equality." My word! You've actually gotten something right! Feminism holds that gender roles which have been established by historical society are bad and limiting on both men and women and as such should be abolished. That's pretty much it. In summary, Pro's argument rests upon three things. 1.) Blanket statements about "all feminists" which he then attempts to use to make normative statements on the nature of feminism. These can be disregarded with no proof. 2.) A fundamental misunderstanding of feminism. It's useless to tussle over whether feminism is stupid or not if you don't fundamentally understand it. 3.) A misunderstanding of the current state of society. I'll deal with this next round. Over to Pro. 1.)https://en.oxforddictionaries.com...

  • CON

    Inb4 "Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the...

    Feminism! Hooray!

    Well I haven't had a decent debate in a couple months and and figured why not discuss feminism in modern day North America (when I say this I'm referring to Canada & the US of A, sorry Mexifriends). I've been having a lot of "good" back-and-fourths with Stefy about feminism and equality and such in comments and polls and whatever, so if she could accept I'd love it, but if someone else does I'd be just as happy. So as anyone who knows me on this site would already know, I'm against modern feminism in North America. I find it nothing more than an excuse to get women special treatment and put down others in order to make feminists look good. It "unknowingly" fights for female superiority under the guise of "equality." I don't want to get too into this right now so I'll leave the first round for my opponent to open with arguments as to why feminism is or should be necessary in North America. Inb4 "Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Therefore feminism is great!!!1!@" - Citing a definition does not mean the movement as a whole is beneficial or not detrimental. Rules Forfeiture of any round will result in a full seven-point loss. I can't make this clear enough, if you want to participate in a debate, please don't go on vacation half way through. If you do have to leave because your neighbour took your sister hostage, please just... deal with that on your own. Five rounds, 72 hours, 10,000 Characters. No semantics. I won't mind if you get emotional and insult me because I stated facts that destroy your argument ;) Come one come all, I don't care how many debates you've completed or not completed, if you bring up good arguments I'm happy! Thanks and good luck!

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/Feminism-Hooray/1/