Saturday, December 6, 2008

Feminism Ruins Women?!?

I came accross this fashion blog and that's what it said! Half of the women who commented on the site had the same exact ignorant comment to make. One even stated that feminism ruins men because when women become more masculine, men become more feminine....(could they be anymore homophobic? could they be any more brainwashed?)
The thing is - they completely ignore all of the women and men who don't fit into the closed definition of masculine or feminine.
I'm a masculine girl but I don't think I'm unfeminine. I still look feminine - even though I don't wear make-up, push-up bras and highhells. But I'm considered masculine just because I decide not to follow these gender standards and because I openly admit my love for tools and creating things, because I admit my love for things like physics and geology - both things usually shunned by most women I know (at least what I consider mainstream, MTV wannabe women).
Feminism exists for the girls like me and for the guys who want to be able to sit with their legs crossed without being ignorantly called gay. Feminism is for the guys who want to wear skinny jeans and are rediculed and called gay because of it. Feminism exists for that girl that loves her sports, playing in the mud and is too busy to worry about her appearences.
The reason beauty obsessed women make comments like that is because they don't need feminism. In their mind, they can't even comprehend that there are some intelligent women out there that purposely don't follow these gender standards. They can't comprehend for a minute that their "feminism" isn't defined by tinted cream and eyeliner. They can't even comprehend that the whole idea of gender roles is a social standard and nothing more than an illusion.
So why were they saying that feminism has ruined women? Because of a Dove ad, that showed a woman without make-up, without airbrushing - she had zits and freckles and she wasn't hiding them. Somehow, seeing this woman exactly how she really is - makes her masculine. Women aren't expected to just exist as just women, we are expected to change our appearences completely and make ourselves look completely different in order to get the label (this makes me want to puke).
This is how completely gone most women are (and men). A woman is seen as masculine, JUST BECAUSE SHE ISN'T WEARING MAKE-UP.
It makes me sick to think that there are women out there who think that you have to wear make-up to look feminine, it makes me sick that women actually think they are DEFINED by make-up. What makes me even more ill is the numbers of women who can't admit that they are vain about everything they do - from the clothes they buy, to how they present themselves and how they treat OTHER women. Vain women and men, ALWAYS push their vanity on others. They can't accept that some of us just don't give a shit about being the hottest girl or guy in the room.
Women like them ruin women, not feminism. It never even occurred to them that when they saw this ad and had those remarks, how they were objectifying that girl. How they wanted to put bells and ornaments on her and then she'd be acceptable to them and be just enough to call a "woman". They don't even get that they are creating this, "You have to do this and that in order to be considered feminine." THEY are the ones who ruin women, not feminism.
And I'll just point out that it's not that they wear make-up and follow these gender standards that makes them ruin women, it's how they treat women who think all that stuff is petty.
One of the comments goes...."it's an idea that thumbs its nose at male biology, which is highly visual. You want to be attractive to a man, do as much as you can with what you have." This is her defense that using make-up and airbrushing is not shallow. Isn't living your life in order to be attractive to men shallow in definition, is there any other way to define it? Isn't it shallow to assume that men only care about that? Doesn't that kind of assumption ruin men? Doesn't it sort of state that men are superficial pigs that can't get past a zit and can't be attracted to a woman's personality - which happens to have a lot more to offer than the size of her tits. I'm sorry but such comments would totally offend me if I were a man, I would be totally insulted. Not all men are visual when it comes to sex or attraction, not all men are obsessed with the fake female look.
If being a so-called masculine girl is so unattractive, than why have I ALWAYS been able to get boyfriends? And you know what - I steer clear of the superficial assholes that only date girls for their looks, rather than their abilities. I steer clear of the guys who think that fake boobs and the generic "sexy" look are some how real. I get the guys who think superficial girls are dumb and too stupid to think for themselves - I get the guys who think that women like that are bitches. I get the guys who value feminine brains and who actually VALUE feminine perspectives that have nothing to do with fashion, make-up etc. I get the guy who sees the girl batting her fake eyelashes while she swings her hips like she's a runway model and flips her hair and rolls his eyes. THAT is empowerment, I get the guys who are the gold - while those superficial bitches wonder why they are with some guy who would rather jerk off to porn.