Response to "How Feminism Screwed My Generation"
Here is the video I am responding to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWR1Z4AiyWM
I'm sure you've gotten many responses on your "How Feminism Screwed My Generation" videos, but I saw it and just couldn't believe that this is what someone actually thinks. I'm not trying to be rude, but I really do want you to read this and think about what I'm saying..
First of all, it's offensive to paint all women with such broad strokes. Not all women are as you describe. Just because a woman leaves a relationship that she is unhappy in doesn't mean that she is flaky or that she has been corrupted by feminist propaganda. Everyone should be allowed to choose their partner. Second, men do the same things that you described AND ALWAYS HAVE. I watched another video of yours and I realize that a woman you were in love with cheated on you and my heart does go out to you because nothing hurts quite as much as that, but guess what? People have ALWAYS cheated and they always will. For many years, husbands cheated on their wives regularly because they knew their wife would never leave them. Why? Not because they were not strong enough or that they were not hurt, but because they had been forced into financial dependence on him. I don't think too many companies were hiring housewives in the 1940s. Yes, women cheated too. Everyone did, because many were left unhappy and unfulfilled in their little role.
I think what you really mean to say in this video is that you think that generally people of our generation tend to be lazier in relationships and less inclined to work with a partner to strengthen and maintain a healthy relationship. If this is what you mean, I'd say that not only do I personally agree with you, but many women who consider themselves feminists, or even just consider themselves people, would agree. It takes hard work to maintain a long-term relationship and not everyone wants to put in that work. That being said, it has very little, if anything, to do with feminism. Perhaps there is some connection that could be made between women finally being able to choose to put in that effort into other areas of their lives that they may personally consider more important (e.g. their career), but that seems like a flawed argument. I think that if you are looking to explain why people of our generation move from one relationship to the next more quickly than our parents or grandparents, you might want to blame it on one of two things: 1. The internet: the single most important difference between us and our parents is that we grew up with a world wide network at our fingertips and we are still discovering what effects that has on social interactions. 2. WE ARE IN OUR TWENTIES! You say in your video that you are 25 and perhaps you're older now, but the fact remains that the girl who broke your heart because of her evil feminist agenda was likely also in her early to mid twenties and not everyone wants to settle down right away. Some do, so please go out and find those girls and leave the rest of us to sew our wild oats in peace.
Next time you meet a woman you like, you might try talking to her like an intelligent, self-reliant human being whom you would like to get to know instead of relying on some set of archaic "rules" or values that your parents taught you. You are your own person with an incredibly valuable capacity for free thought and so is she. You should both be using it. Perhaps it would be more beneficial to build relationships on genuine human connection rather than trying to fit into some idealized version of a family structure that was invented by institutions in the first place; and is, in my opinion, a better example of systemic propaganda than feminism.
I'm not even going to get into how gut-wrenchingly heteronormative this rant was. Let's just say that although gay men and women don't have a specific gender related schema to follow, many of them have been able to form happy, long-lasting relationships. Perhaps this is because healthy relationships come from treating your partner as a respected equal rather than as an alien species that has to be lured into a trap with a set of complex and well-practiced routines. At the end of the day, most women I know do not want to be lumped into one group or be treated as an "other". We are all people and maybe if we started treating one another like it, relationships would be stronger in many areas of society. THAT'S what feminism is; wanting to be treated like a person. You may think that it "ruined" society, but the fact is, it has simply changed society. It was an essential change because the way of life that was customary before all but forced half of the population to categorize themselves as either mothers or whores. There are still women out there would would like to pursue the life of a mother and homemaker, just as there are some men who would like to become "family men". By the same token, there are women who would rather remain single, childless, or be in less traditional relationships because that is what makes them happy, just as there are many men who would like to do the same. The only difference is, men have almost always had the freedom to choose a different path for themselves whereas women have only recently been able to do so. If you would like to be part of a nuclear family and come home to your wife who has chosen to also focus her life on family, that's fine, but please don't say that women have ruined society by demanding the right to vote or by asking that we not be financially or socially penalized for being born with a vagina instead of a penis. The fact is, feminism isn't done because equality has been achieved legally, but certainly not socially (as demonstrated by your video). Not only that, but plenty of women around the world live in the kinds of societies that you idealize. Many women cannot file for divorce because of either legal or social restrictions. Many women are still forced to choose between being trapped in a loveless marriage or becoming practically destitute. Please do not romanticize a time when half of the population had no vote, and effectively no voice. Millions of women remain voiceless around the world and even here in the west women continue to be objectified and vilified not only for their personal choices, but for even having the audacity to suggest they should have the right to make personal choices at all.
I don't know you personally and maybe you are not a narrow-minded, uneducated, angry bigot, but you certainly come off like one. You should know that very few women want to form intimate relationships with people who come off that way. Just because one woman hurt you, doesn't mean that equality, or by extension, feminism is inherently bad. I know you are just one dumb guy who posted one dumb video and honestly, I don't care about you, but I do care about the attitude that you represent. You are part of the problem and although you have the right to say whatever you want, please just consider the fact that society is changing whether you like it or not. There is not going back, so you can either jump on the bandwagon or gtfo.
One more thing, just because you say the words "it defies all logic", doesn't mean it actually does. It might be helpful for you to actually use some logic rather than making sweeping generalizations based on vague "facts". Take a philosophy course and try again.
