Men's Rights Movement

[Mermaid]

Feminists want more stuff for women and mra want more stuff for men, simple as that. 

This is fundamentally wrong at least about feminists. It is not about wanting "stuff". 

I see a lot of people discussing what is a feminist, and that's fair, but I can only relay how I see things. 

I am a feminist. 

I grew up female, and culturally, that means being pleasant, not making waves, looking a certain way. Being somehow lesser than. (I was born in the 60s, so my generation is very likely to be socialized differently than younger ones). When I was born, women could not get bank credit without a man co-signing for her. We were fired for being pregnant. We were expected to abandon any career when we got married. We had no control over our own reproductive choices, there was no widely available birth control for women. Why has that changed? Because women spoke up. That is the kind of feminist I am. 

I have had men comment on my physical appearance every day (when I was younger and more attractive, thank heavens I became invisible when I hit 40). If we don't look a certain way, we are not attractive to men and have no value in the world. I have men at work and other situations interrupt me when I am talking. I have had bosses that spoke to me like I was a child, and who gave men credit for my thoughts and ideas, repeatedly, and have watched other women get the same treatment. I have people tell me that I am selfish for not having kids and instead focusing on my career. We are faulted for taking time from work to have children, and in fact, most of us don't get any paid maternity leave because there is no law in this country that allows for it. I am lucky enough to work for a company that gives up to 12 weeks of "disability" when you go out on leave. (is pregnancy a "disability"?). We are expected to be sexually selective and chaste, and if we are not, we are disgusting and dirty and shameful (while men are celebrated). We are blamed and/or doubted when we are sexually assaulted, something I have firsthand knowledge of. We face men who want to dictate whether we are to carry pregnancies in our own bodies. We are expected to be more helpless, dependent on marriage and family, and acquiescent in general. To Love, Honor and Obey. (and for this I blame religion largely). 

I take umbrage to sexism, like sports teams joking about how their opponents carry purses, as if women are somehow lesser, weaker, something to be ridiculed. 

This is the kind of feminist I am. 

So instead of wanting "stuff", as a feminist, I think my main issue is being prejudged and disrespected because I have a uterus. This is what I care about. This is a societal wrong. 

So in that light, MRAs to me are that kid at Christmas who isn't getting the same number of gifts as women. The non-oppressed whining that they are not getting the special attention that the oppressed are demanding. The dismissal of issues brought up by the oppressed by the groups who do not understand at all what it's like to walk a mile in the others' shoes. I would love to hear arguments to the contrary, please tell me if I am wrong. This is how it appears to me, a group of people with a certain amount of disdain for the other. 

As a feminist, I want equal opportunity for ALL PEOPLE regardless of sex. I love men. I am not a man-hating dyke although I have been called that for expressing these thoughts to others. I don't want special stuff. I don't deny anyone their own story of their own struggles. I want to listen and understand. I don't want special treatment. I want a level playing field.