Feminism - definition

peaceful-forest · Jan 24, 2026

How would you define feminism? Do you think feminism is good or bad?

I think the definition of feminism has changed over time. At one point it meant that a woman could decide if she wanted to be a homemaker or go into the workforce. Now it means being sexually immoral and pro-choice things.

PloverWing · Jan 24, 2026

I'm aware that feminists have had a variety of emphases over the years. My own focus is on equal rights and responsibilities, regardless of a person's gender, in civil law, in the church, and in general society.

There are a few areas of life that are not gender-neutral, such as the physical experience of pregnancy and childbirth. Even there, I work towards societal structures that avoid penalizing women for these aspects of life.

I see feminism as a good thing. It's certainly essential to my own well-being.

RDKirk · Jan 24, 2026

There are different identified and defined feminist ideologies. You can start with two of them right off the bat:

Liberal Feminism

Radical Feminism

There is also Black Radical Feminism

The differences are not merely semantic or esoteric, but fundamentally different world views and secular eschatologies.

Maria Billingsley · Jan 24, 2026

peaceful-forest said:
How would you define feminism? Do you think feminism is good or bad?

I think the definition of feminism has changed over time. At one point it meant that a woman could decide if she wanted to be a homemaker or go into the workforce. Now it means being sexually immoral and pro-choice things.

Feminism is
Equal rights for women

-Equal pay
-Right to vote
- Education access
-Legal identity like being able to own property and keep wages.
-Equal credit , the ability to open an account, apply for credit without a male cosigner.
- Able to serve on a jury.
- No fault marriage where women were able to divorce their unfaithful abusive husband.
- Able to receive military status.
-Married women's property act.The ability to own property.
-The end of coveture, husbands " owning their wives".
-The end of husbands having sole authority to sending their wives to mental institutions.

Paidiske · Jan 25, 2026

I would define feminism as the belief in the fundamental equality of men and women, and the commitment to creating social realities which reflect that equality. By that definition, I think it's not just good, it's absolutely necessary.

Of course there are different strands of feminist thought and we don't all agree on all the details. I tend to focus on access to education, to employment, and to opportunities for involvement in society (including the church), as well as safe and non-abusive household and family structures.

RamiC · Jan 25, 2026

I have always defined feminism as not wanting anyone, anywhere, to be prevented from doing anything that she wants to do because she is a woman.

I am pro-diversity and suspicious of "equality", but if some women someplace want to do a possible but harmless thing, I am so into freedom I have to say "let them."

Within Christianity, it is about Jesus thinking a lot more of women than the world tends to.

peter2 · Jan 25, 2026

I would say that feminism means starting by coming to terms with the natural condition of women.
This is obviously true for women, but it seems to me that, based on this starting point, all humans, and therefore all men, can also be feminists.

Next,
we must recognize that, historically, men have had the advantage of organizing societies according to their own needs, since military conflicts have always placed them in positions of power. The most Western of human societies have thus been organized around the male function, with times of peace being used to organize work with the same mindset.
In short, for me, wars have long placed women in the background in terms of strategic importance.

So I would say that being a feminist means being a pacifist.
Nor is it a female prerogative.

Finally, on a very personal note, I find women who aspire to be the partner of only one man, for life, very admirable. It inspires deep respect.
Aspiring to this is still not a female prerogative.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

PloverWing · Feb 3, 2026

(staff edit)

Dismantling the patriarchy does seem like a necessary step towards equality.

I'm going to clarify a fine point, though. You say "And men are the patriarchy." That's not strictly correct, as I use the terms. Men exercising power and control over women is the patriarchy. But there's no reason why any particular man, or even men as a group, should choose to be a part of that. Men can be egalitarian too.

RDKirk · Feb 3, 2026

PloverWing said:
Dismantling the patriarchy does seem like a necessary step towards equality.

I'm going to clarify a fine point, though. You say "And men are the patriarchy." That's not strictly correct, as I use the terms. Men exercising power and control over women is the patriarchy. But there's no reason why any particular man, or even men as a group, should choose to be a part of that. Men can be egalitarian too.

stevevw is talking specifically about Radical Feminism ideology, which is a specific ideology of feminism. It's also the ideology that is being primarily taught in academia. How you use the terms is irrelevant. Stevevw described the way the term is being taught in colleges across the nation.

Radical Feminism is a variation of Critical Theory, postulating men as the inherent, eternal Oppressor class and woman as the inherent, eternal Oppressed class. An important point of the ideology, and the DNA it carries from Marxism (Critical Theory is based directly on Marxism), is that this is an eternal conflict, inherent in the male character. Thus the aim of Radical Feminism is not equality, but permanent suppression of males in society.

And you don't have to take my word for it. All you have to do is read the seminal books of Radical Feminism. (Well, I said "all you have to do," but to be frank, that's some turgid reading.)

RDKirk · Feb 3, 2026

(staff edit)

My daughter speaks of the very obtainable state of "benign patriarchy." That's where the West has been headed for half a century, although the US had lagged somewhat behind some European nations.

But that progress has been retrograded by Critical Theory in Radical Feminism in much the same manner that racial reconciliation has been retrograded by Critical Race Theory. Both of them are based on achieving the impracticable end states of absolutely subjugating the Oppressor Class (somehow without the Oppressor class realizing it before it's too late).

PloverWing · Feb 3, 2026

RDKirk said:
My daughter speaks of the very obtainable state of "benign patriarchy."

Can you describe for me what "benign patriarchy" means?

RDKirk · Feb 3, 2026

PloverWing said:
Patriarchy without power and control seems like a contradiction in terms, but perhaps you can describe for me what you have in mind.

PloverWing said:
Can you describe for me what "benign patriarchy" means?

Any kind of "-archy" is a structure of community power and control. Patriarchy or matriarchy, both require community power and control. I say "community" because neither "patriarchy" nor "matriarchy" functionally exists at the household level. At the household level, it would be merely a "house boss." A patriarchy or matriarchy is the structure of relationships across households, over generations, and the function of the community as a whole.

In the real world, however, matriarchy requires an environment of non-conflict and abundance; patriarchy works best in an environment of conflict and scarcity.

Slight side note, one of the problems with the black American community today is that there is neither patriarchy nor matriarchy. Very deliberately, an ideology of chaos ("Cain' nobody tell me what to do") is effectively destroying the black community, and I trace it to a permutation of Critical Race Theory that postulates any concept of social conformity in the black community is "respectability politics" or acceptance of the culture of the Oppressor and must be rejected.

peaceful-forest · Feb 7, 2026

I did not intend for this thread to become what it has....

I asked the question about defining feminism in the Egalitarian forum because so many definitions exist. I only know my perspective. And I'm aware of the perspective of certain users on Gab who adhere to Patriarchy.

I'm learning a lot since God has shown me how much of His Word has been corrupted and used for evil. I needed to hear what Egalitarian Christians thought of feminism. What is the true definition of feminism? Have things been declared feminism that shouldn't be?

PloverWing · Feb 7, 2026

peaceful-forest said:
I did not intend for this thread to become what it has....

I asked the question about defining feminism in the Egalitarian forum because so many definitions exist. I only know my perspective. And I'm aware of the perspective of certain users on Gab who adhere to Patriarchy.

I'm learning a lot since God has shown me how much of His Word has been corrupted and used for evil. I needed to hear what Egalitarian Christians thought of feminism. What is the true definition of feminism? Have things been declared feminism that shouldn't be?

I do see that your thread got derailed a bit. Can you say more about which aspects of feminism you see as good and bad?

FreeinChrist · Feb 8, 2026

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