Causes I endorse/care about.
Feb. 11th, 2005 01:29 am1. Anti-infant-circumcision. This is *routine* circumcision, mind. If there's an actual medical reason behind it, I support it. I also will not comment if people do this for religious reasons, provided that this is actually part of their religion.
2. Breastfeeding. And I'm never having kids, so this one's a bit weird.
3. Linguistic rights. Primarily, the right to not be told "the way you speak is wrong". I understand the various reasons behind a need for a standard dialect, but please. Just say "this way is more appropriate for this situation". Forget that right and wrong nonsense. (Unless somebody is actually wrong. It does happen)
4. Anti-Bush. BUSH SUCKS.
5. Pro-reproductive rights.
6. Pro-equality-of-all-sorts (racial, sexual, sexualorientational, whatever, equal is good)
7. Anti-death-penalty. Especially when it's being called upon by people who claim to be "pro-life". Liars.
8. Pro-helping-people-out. Yeah, if you're so pro-life, you should want to support this life once it's born as well. Abortion rates *rose* during Bush's term.
9. Anti-war. I don't like killing people.
10. Pro-Dudley-Fic. *coughs*
11. Autistic Advocacy. Technically, this goes under number 6, but I thought I'd give it a special mention. *special mention*
Hm.... That may be it. Icky number, 11, but it'll do.
2. Breastfeeding. And I'm never having kids, so this one's a bit weird.
3. Linguistic rights. Primarily, the right to not be told "the way you speak is wrong". I understand the various reasons behind a need for a standard dialect, but please. Just say "this way is more appropriate for this situation". Forget that right and wrong nonsense. (Unless somebody is actually wrong. It does happen)
4. Anti-Bush. BUSH SUCKS.
5. Pro-reproductive rights.
6. Pro-equality-of-all-sorts (racial, sexual, sexualorientational, whatever, equal is good)
7. Anti-death-penalty. Especially when it's being called upon by people who claim to be "pro-life". Liars.
8. Pro-helping-people-out. Yeah, if you're so pro-life, you should want to support this life once it's born as well. Abortion rates *rose* during Bush's term.
9. Anti-war. I don't like killing people.
10. Pro-Dudley-Fic. *coughs*
11. Autistic Advocacy. Technically, this goes under number 6, but I thought I'd give it a special mention. *special mention*
Hm.... That may be it. Icky number, 11, but it'll do.
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Date: 2005-02-10 11:40 pm (UTC)Ex: A common feminist conception is that men should receive the same paternity benefits as a woman's maternity benefits.
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Date: 2005-02-10 11:50 pm (UTC)Like say, groups based on gender. It's apparently discriminatory for men to be members of men only clubs. But not for women to be part of women's only clubs. For a simple example, check out the women's only gym classes. And then check how many men's only classes there are as well. Usually the first is >=1 and the second is <0 .... =\
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Date: 2005-02-10 11:55 pm (UTC)I see what you mean now. Things like that can be tricky right now, with women still so far behind in many rights. It causes some areas to get overcorrected. (Like having all-women gym classes make up for the fact that we don't get equal pay or that our reproductive rights are quickly dwindling to reprocutive whats?.) It's a valid concern, and I'm not exactly sure how to deal with it, because I think there are cases where people are more comfortable being seperated from the opposite sex, and they should be able to seek that comfort.
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Date: 2005-02-11 12:01 am (UTC)The problem I see in the end is not women's equality or inequality. It's the overenthusiasm for equality at the cost of others.
‡ shrugs ‡ I hate politics. =\
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Date: 2005-02-11 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-11 07:21 am (UTC)Scholarships?
Prayer circles?
Rape counselling -- this one, actually, is huge. God help you if you are male and get raped, because no one else will.
Identifying medical issues that were once primarily female, like eating disorders.
Most of the "rights" in question are usually considered privileges, not rights, though (although there's an amendment covering that-- Amendment 9: rights that are in the Constitution do not mean that you don't have other rights). If you want to talk bare-bones Constitutionally-mentioned rights, white men have been known to get into trouble for espousing and vocally promoting pro-white-men beliefs in public (free speech).
However, the big distinguishing trait in inequality would be poverty: white Christian males who are rich do not generally run into discrimination. White Christian males who live in trailer parks and have four dogs named "Dawg"..... Martin Luther King, Jr. actually realized this and started working towards financial equality towards the end of his life, but, of course, no one talks about that because it would be Communist.
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Date: 2005-02-11 07:45 am (UTC)Actually, I do not define my values by the American Consititution. I define rights by what I consider important, which makes this argument subjective, but meh.
I have very little time for most of the rape councilling groups in my area, for men or women, but the groups that helped and supported me the most were there for men as well as women. I have nothing but praise for the actions of FOROM in my area, and indeed in general.
Women scholarships are usually trying to a deficiency. I'm a scientist, and am lucky in that my area is about 50/50 in it MF ratio (at least in my age group), but up the road is a the biggest technology college in the country that has a sex ratio of something like 1 to 5. Scholarship funds, of course, are usally privately sourced: those which specify race/nationality/gender almost certainly are, and such things can be open to whosoever the benefactor likes.
College admissions, well, I'd need to see an example.
Prayer circles, well, I just don't care. Most religions discriminate against everyone at some point or other.
However, the big distinguishing trait in inequality would be poverty
Sorry, I don't understand how your final paragraph shows that SWPMs are discriminated against for being SWPMs.
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Date: 2005-02-11 09:21 am (UTC)Which is why I brought that up-- I also believe that people conveniently say "that's a privilege, not a right" when they want to take a right away from a person. For example, I believe that anyone able to pass a basic driving competency test (including physical capability) should be allowed to get a license. And yet, in my state, you have to also be willing to be fingerprinted in order to do that.
Sorry, I don't understand how your final paragraph shows that SWPMs are discriminated against for being SWPMs.
I actually didn't try to exemplify this, but if you have ever seen a "white trash" man try to get a job, a home loan, or even a little bit of respect when portrayed in the media, then you know what I'm talking about-- if you are white and male and rich, no one can touch you. If you are white and male and poor, then you're trash, a redneck, a hick, uneducated, unsophisticated, and you probably eat roadkill*. I suppose you could say it's about stereotyping, and then treating someone differently based on your expectation of who they ought to be.
Sometimes, even a redneck has a hard time catching a break.
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Date: 2005-02-11 09:23 am (UTC)Forgot to address this one: I think I was referring to the more general "women's only prayer circle" type of thing, where the church itself is open to men, but that the prayer circle is really just for the ladies. But my experience with churches is close to nothing, so I am really conjecturing on this one.
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Date: 2005-02-12 06:27 pm (UTC)I know that gym classes are a [very] weak argument. But it is an example of the situation at the smallest end [plus at the time, I was in a bit of a rush and couldn't think of any bar the stupidly obvious]. The point was that women's "liberation" had overbalanced the scales of equality in some areas, and just didn't seem to care.
In the end, I find that I have work around/put up with it because there is little that can be done while governments attempt to legislate common sense.
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Date: 2005-02-10 11:56 pm (UTC)Please excuse my typos.
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Date: 2005-02-11 12:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-11 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-13 11:20 pm (UTC)Perhaps you [or a male friend] should walk into a gym and ask what classes they have for men only. You'll find the answer will probably [almost certainly] be none.
The reasoning for women's groups is valid and acceptable. I'm fine with them in concept. But, it is discriminatory to not hold men's groups, or at least say that they could be held were there enough interest. Some men don't go to gym's for the exact reasons women want women only gym classes.