Critical Thinking: Do Some Feminists Believe That Women Are The Only Gender That Suffers?

It is not uncommon to come across a study that goes into how women are being held back in a certain area of life. When a feminist hears about something like this, she can believe that this is yet another example of how women are being oppressed.

However, even if a man was to see this or a woman who isn’t a feminist, they could still come to the same conclusion. There are at least two reasons as to why this would take place.

Attention

One thing that the mainstream media understands is that in order to make people believe something, the only thing that they need to do is to gain their attention. Through achieving this outcome, someone can accept what they are being sold.

There is then no need for them to prove that what they are saying is the truth, and this is why repetition is the key. So, through putting these kinds of studies in the public eye, the midstream media can define what people believe about women.

The Dominant Narrative

Along with monopolising people’s attention, these studies also play into the current cultural story about how women suffer and men have it easy. Based on this, someone doesn’t need to be a hardcore feminist to believe this.

The only thing that is necessary is for them to live in the western world and to go along with what the mainstream media comes out with. Additionally, their time in the education system may have also caused them to see life in this way.  

Identity Politics

No matter whether it relates to the education system, the media, or the entertainment industry, the same outlook is often found. The majority of people who are found in these industries are often left leaning.

And if someone isn’t on board with this, they often feel the need to keep their mouth closed for fear of losing their job or being smeared. This is why it has been said that the left is only concerned with diversity of appearance, not diversity of opinion.

One Focus

Therefore, right from the very beginning, these sources are going to be looking for information that fits their outlook that women are oppressed. Someone can then focus purely on a study that goes into how oppressed women are in a certain environment, without even thinking about why the paper printed the story to begin with.

This story can then be seen as a clear sign of how badly women are being treated, thereby stopping someone from being able to step back and to think critically. Nevertheless, if one has been conditioned to believe that women are oppressed, it is not going to be possible for them to see anything that proves otherwise.

A Filter

After all, human beings see with their mind not their eyes. Ergo, if someone continues to see something, it can simply show that their mind has been programmed to see it.

If, for example, the same study was done with men, the results might be very similar. Taking this into account, just because a study shows that women aren’t doing very well in a certain context, it doesn’t necessarily prove that men are to blame.

The Truth

Even so, this doesn’t mean that some feminists will want to accept this; especially when their whole identity is based around being oppressed by the ‘patriarchy’. If their victim status was taken away, it might cause them to experience an existential crisis; which would make it hard for them to know who they were.   
This is why women like this need to focus purely on the instances where women are doing badly and to only focus on the instances were men are doing well. What this then does is allow them to blame men for all the problems that women experience.

A Different Reality

It is then not that pain and struggle is something that all human beings have to endure; no, it is something that only women have to go through. Men, on the other hand, live a life that is full of pleasure and completely free of pain.

Ironically, these feminists are also likely to talk about how empowered they are. Perhaps if these feminists were able to get out of their own way and to extend themselves to others, men in particular, they might be able realise how flawed their thinking is.

A Cover Up

One way of looking at this kind of behaviour would be to say that someone like this finds it hard to detach from themselves and to think rationally. Through being so caught up with their own needs and feelings, it stops them from being able to reflect on their own behaviour and to empathise with others.

This is something that can apply to both genders, and it can be a sign that someone is mentally and/or emotionally undeveloped. There may have been a time in their life when they experienced trauma.

Inner Conflict

In the same way that a man can have trouble with women when he has an issue with his inner feminine, a women can also have problem with men when she has an issue with her inner masculine. Both men and women are made up of masculine and feminine energy, with some men/women being more masculine/feminine than others.

Considering this, if a woman has a problem with men, there is the chance that she has problems with the masculine side of her nature. Perhaps there was a time in her life when she was abused by a man.

Conclusion

A woman’s need to ‘take down the patriarchy’ can simply be a way for her to indirectly get revenge on the man/men who harmed her as a child. Not only this, these early experiences may have caused her to buy into this to begin with.

It has been said that feminism is no longer needed in today’s world, and this is partly due to how it divides men and women. But with that aside, maybe the only thing that will put an end to the conflict between men and women will be for people to deal with the conflict that they have with their own inner masculine and feminine.
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As if someone has a problem with men/women, it is going to be a challenge for them to get on with them. Their outer world will mirror back what they believe about the opposite gender. 

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk