Might help also to describe what you think feminism is, since it’s one of those terms that is overloaded.
I once had a physical therapist tell me she wasn’t a feminist because she thought women couldn’t be as physically capable as men when serving as soldiers, and seemed to believe feminism requires treating women exactly like men.
I told her I was a feminist because I believe in equal rights for men and women, an idea she did not seem so opposed to.
I am a feminist.
Feminism means all genders should be treated equal, but that does not mean men should also get paid menstrual leaves at their job. Equal rights, yes. Everyone should be treated fairly.
Defining it as paid menstrual leave is kind of the problem. Hear me out.
Women should be able to take paid leaves from work to deal with menstrual problems, but it shouldn’t stop there. All people should be able to take leave from work when they need it.
So, if it is redefined as paid leave, then it equalizes the field.
I think the “when they need it” part is where the feminism becomes relevant - there is a history of women (and men) being denied leave when they need it for sexist / patriarchal reasons (e.g. men are generally not given paternity leave, women might not be allowed to take leave due to menstruation).
The scope of acceptable reasons to take leave is what is debated and where feminism has pushed for paid leave for reasons previously denied to both men and women.
I get you. But say, a company has a policy that we give employees 2 paid leaves per month, for example, a woman can take those 2 paid leaves for the same reasons as the men do, but they would also need a day more of paid leaves to deal with the menstrual pain/stress. If that extra day is not defined as “menstrual leaves” men would argue that why are women getting more leaves, and hence the feminism thing will be broken as both are not treated fairly.
Same in the case of pregnancy. Companies give 2 months of paid leaves for that.
Or maybe the right thing to do is, just say, if you’re pregnant, you get paid time off, if you’re having periods you get paid time off. Do not include gender in it.
Idk man.
I get what you’re saying, but if a woman is given more benefits than a man, businesses are disincentivized to hire women.
Unless the government subsidizes their wages or reduces tax burdens for companies that have more diverse hiring
That’s what we do in my country. If you hire only men you generally qualify for fewer government programs. In some cases you cant bid on the job if you don’t have sufficient representation for specific groups.
But I think the idea is that men should get the same lenience, i.e. just-feeling-wrecked-leave rather than menstrual-leave. The difference in having a baby should be that one needs medical leave too, in my mind.
It’s a really shit word to use if it’s supposed to mean equality.
Are there any other words we can use to replace feminism that doesn’t show bias towards one side?
isn’t the nature of inequality that one side is privileged while another is marginalized?
Feminism is about gender equality, which means addressing the inequality that exists. You seem confused about what equality is about …
I’ll accept that feminism is about furthering the rights of women.
It’s not about equality, though, which is why we never hear feminists complaining about men in the draft or a lack of female representation in sanitation services.
It’s also a terrible word to use if it is about equality because it clearly favors one group over others. If you want to support equality, you should use a different word.
I kind of agree on this. Women cannot expect equal pay for less work.