MeerderWörter’s Comments (group member since Jan 08, 2016)

MeerderWörter’s comments from the Our Shared Shelf group.

Michaela wrote: "Ester wrote: "I would have said Unisex from the beginning.That of having to make an endless queue when your male companion has already finished infuriates.But after certain comments, what if panic ..."
Thanks for including intersex people:)

James wrote: "You will never be able to stop evil minded people, thats just an illusion some people keep telling themselves to fit their own agendas. Some people want to believe in this perfect utopia that simpl..."

Okay, then I wish the inconvenience and uncomfortable feeling on you of always having to decide which bathrooms to use and hoping you don't get thrown out if you use the "wrong one" and... gah, I take bathrooms personally.

Speaking of it: Why is it that there are rules on how many urinal a men's bathroom has to have but there are no such rules for women's bathrooms? There are women who can and would want to use them... not very gender-equal now, are we?

Michaela,

manchmal braucht es starke Menschen mit einem langen Atem wie dich, um etwas vorwärts zu bringen.
Da braucht es lange Konversationen mit Leuten, um dann nach ein paar Tagen oder Wochen(manchmal eben eher auch Wochen) vielleicht ein Umdenken im anderen zu bewirken. Das braucht viel Energie und Nerven. Nicht einfach, weil man zu verschiedene Ansichten hat, wenn es um ein Thema geht, und man sich denkt man kommt nie auf einen grünen Zweig...
Und manchmal geht das auch nicht, manchmal kommt man auf keinen grünen Zweig... man darf eine Meinung haben, aber man darf, finde ich, keine Fakten missachten. Fakt ist Fakt!!!
Und so werden wir wohl weiterkämpfen müssen, jeden Tag ein bisschen, und uns gegenseitig unterstützen, und zuhören, um es unseren Kindern und deren Kindern und deren Kindern und so weiter immer ein Stückchen besser zu machen.

Wir stehen auf den Schultern von Riesinnen, lasst uns das nicht vergessen. Wir sind nur ein kleines Zahnrad im Rad der Geschichte, und wir bauen auf auf der Arbeit unserer Großmütter und deren Großmütter...
Take one for the team? Aber sicher doch!
Wir werden nicht ruhen bevor wir in einer Welt leben, in der Menschen sich mit gegenseitigem Respekt begegnen, und nicht sich anhand von negativen Zuschreibungen davon abhalten lassen, respektvoll miteinander umzugehen.

Michaela wrote: "Keith wrote: "Ashna wrote: "My entire family is such a hygiene freak, that we travel with sanitiser and toilet role wherever we go ,so that we can clean the washroom before using it.So,i guess,if I..."

I only ever came across them at motorway stops and even there only in Germany... hm... they are strange, these toilets...

I was using a unisex toilet at the OII Europe Community Event in Vienna and it was cool;)

James wrote: "Would it totally stop it? No. But as an example if you go into a female only bathroom and 2 minutes later a man goes Into a men's only he never sees you and thus the chance or idea of assaulting yo..."

But then that is an issue of gender roles and respect and how we treat each other as human beings and not an issue of gendered bathrooms per se!

Can't we just get over the binary and be done with restrooms that are gendered?
The gender binary is flawed anyways, so...
can we just get over it?

Sometimes it needs brave women (and men) who pick up the fight and fight no matter what, against the beliefs that uphold injustices...

Louise wrote: "From my perspective focusing on gender labeled toilets is unnecessary. When you have to go, you have to go and the number of women I have seen in men's toilets and the number of men I have seen in ..."

Also, we need to think about the fact that there are women who would like to use urinals...

As Pam and Ana have said already, I wouldn't call it a war between "white men and women and really everyone else". That is not the case.
It is much more a case of dismantling oppressive and institutionalised structures that were implemented over the last 500 years and that we still live under and either benefit from or are being disadvantaged.
It is not a bad thing to be a white man, but, and here comes the huge big BUT: white men (among other traits, but let's forget them for a minute for clarity) are the ones who benefit the most and have the least disadvantages in our current cis-hetero-patriarchal society.
Women who knew but looked the other way? There are reasons why they did, and being ridiculed and not being believed are two of them. Or simply being dismissed. Do you think they would have done it if they would have known with certainty, that they would have been believed, that there would have been consequences, positive ones for them and negative ones for the perpetrator? I am sure they would have, but that was sadly not the case! So please spare me with this: They knew and didn't do anything.
Your "argument" with Ms. Watson is not valid, because, as I said, since when is it bad to be a white man? Your argument is also lacking the fact, that white men are overrepresented in the film industry in the US and Europe, and therefore it is simply more likely (not just by a margin, by a lot), to have white men as directors... To be honest, I don't know what you want to say with this, for me it lacks as an argument and then I can't see what you want to use this argument for.
As Pam said already, we are here to take them down, that means taking down the loudest ones first.
Also, no change was ever just happening, brave people had to fight for it, whether that be worker's rights, the vote or abolition of slavery.
Just one question: Why purple? There are no purple people running around...

Thank you Pam for all the statistics... it is again and again shocking to see how much there is yet to be done!
And we are doing the good fight, we are talking and taking to the streets and learning from each other and having each other's back... we will get to a society of equality, but it takes time and a lot of effort and energy...
There are many reasons why the gender distribution is the way it is, but to answer with Marx:
Reproduction and production area. For Marx, "reproduction" is everything that is related to what a housewife does, such as rearing children, keeping the household, all of that. Production, on the other hand, is everything that the man does, normally working in his specific job(now please note that when I say man and woman did this and that, this was for Marx, 150 years ago, in a capitalist society). Marx noted that reproduction and production are two separate areas that are not intertwined with each other... This sounds fairly familiar, right? We still live in a capitalist society, and we still mainly have this distribution of woman=household, children and man=work, breadwinner
How did this came to be? Well, because of industrialisation. Since reproduction and production were suddenly in physically different spaces, there had to be made decisions on who goes to work... it is also an explanation why women earn less... because they had to work, but it wasn't their role that was ascribed to them by society, so they earned even less than men (and still do...)
But let's move on...

Of course it has to do with sexism that there are less women in office. Why are there less women in office? Because they are expected to get children and rear them, and then there just isn't time to do it, because let's face it, as a politician you work many hours...
You know why women are getting into higher positions finally? Because it is being something done about it! Because there are measures that tackle prejudices, and and look that there is a better representation of women and men. It doesn't just happen.
Nothing just happens, we all live in societies where without an impulse from within or exterior, nothing happens and it stays the same. Socialisation leads to the reproduction of social norms... without work there won't change anything... there are means of social control and so on, believe me, it won't change anything without work...

What I find very important is to distinguish between being white and being White. White, as in the skin colour, is not problematic. Hey, that's the way we're born. Why did I once write it capitalized tho and the other time not? Because white refers to skin colour, while White refers to the specific system that was built to divide people. Hey, not even everyone who was white was a part of it in the beginning. Not everyone who is white is White. Being White is about upholding the system built on greed, genocide and racism that was built and is in many ways still maintained today.
But enough of that....
We are all diverse and this diversity is beautiful. Negating this diversity, and the history that lies at the ground of this diversity is harmful. To comb everyone with the same brush won't work... we have different issues and the issues we share we have in different intensity... it is what other forms of feminism accuse white feminism of - a "one-size-fits-all" solution. Believe me, it won't work, we don't even all have the same goals...
And to say "I don't see ...." is actually really harmful because it neglects the very real impacts these characteristics have on the individual, because society treats the individual according to these characteristics... Also, it is negative, because it negates that there even is a difference. As I said, diversity is something that is beautiful, but to say "I don't see..." completely erases the diversity, and all the beautiful parts of it too. For many people, this is part of their identity. Being disabled is for many an identity, heck, would you tell women being a woman is not part of their identity, is not their identity?
JUST DON'T SAY IT!

We need to listen to each other... and together dismantle the forms of oppression... there are many, and many of them don't even affect us... that is why it is so important to listen... otherwise we will only win on the expense of another marginalised group, and now that I really don't want to do.

Jakari wrote: "In England I have found woman to have suppressed rights a tad bit but nothing major just innuendos and what not, in America it is pretty much equal aside from the sexual assault and Hollywood big s..."

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. Racism won't just "die out". Racism is an institutionalised belief, and therefore will not be gone in 40 years just by itself.
Also, while there are different countries that are differently equal, I would say that no country can pride itself in saying they are completely gender equal... yet.

Malobee wrote: "There is also a podcast that I wouldn't say I enjoyed, but I did find to be interesting (and heartbreaking). Missing and Murdered: Who Killed Alberta Williams

It gave some valuable insight into a ..."

I don't think a topic like this can ever be "enjoyable".
Thanks for the link, I will listen to this later.
Indigenous Peoples bear the brunt of all the negative consequences of our way of life.

Emma wrote: "Adam wrote: "First I ever read about (heard of) vulvodynia.

Allowing #MeToo To Go Viral Is The Biggest Mistake The Establishment Ever Made

https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/al...-..."

Which, uh, would be the important step. Heartfelt words mean nothing if they remain just that - words...

I just got the book and will start reading it today.
I am looking forward to getting a new perspective.

Jakari wrote: "I believe Oprah’s speech was powerful and polarizing, but is it appropriate to say their time is up when referring to men, some men, a lot of them are bad people, but most are good well rounded gen..."

I never understood her speech to be against all men... I understand the phrase "their time's up" to be referring to the men who misbehave(d), and that their time is up.

Florian wrote: "Ester wrote: "Florian wrote: "Playing with chemicals and the body is always tricky :p
But it does wonderful things as well :)

Yep, the body is like a natural machine or a toolbox. Each tool has it..."
Not only is it important how much, but also where. A high dosage of one hormone might be crucial in one person, while it is not of any use or even damaging in another person. As I said, there are not only male and female bodies running around, and this makes everything a lil more complicated;)



Malobee wrote: "My feeling on this subject is that there is just not enough known in general. HRT is an instance of medicine (in my opinion) that has a lot of focus on immediate effects, but there are a lot of unk..."

First, I want to thank you Malobee for sharing your story with us.
I agree with you, there is not enough known about how hormones, especially in those of us who "fall out of the norm" so to speak...
One of the questions that I is pondering in my head is what happens when you give teenagers HRT, and then of course which type of HRT... which kind of hormones does the body need, according to one's biology? That's the question pondering in my mind...
And you mention it, "informed consent". Of course we must be able to give informed consent, but what if we are not given all the information? And this is in regard to any medical intervention or procedure: What happens when nothing is done, what happens when a certain procedure is being performed/a certain treatment started? What are the other options instead of this treatment? What are their consequences? What happens during the procedure?
^^This are all questions that need to be answered, and we need an answer to all of them... otherwise that can hardly be classified as "informed consent".
Hey, we're talking about our own bodies, this is damn important!

Adam wrote: "The best sign (be nice if we could post clear pics here) at "Women's March":

"Feminism without Intersectionality is just white supremacy""

Intersectionality is key... not only regarding race, but definitely race too.

Ester wrote: "Florian wrote: "Playing with chemicals and the body is always tricky :p
But it does wonderful things as well :)

Yep, the body is like a natural machine or a toolbox. Each tool has its purpose :)

..."

It always depends - natural doesn't mean per se good, but artificial doesn't mean bad per se either.

The Women's March Seattle (which by the way comes from the Chief Si'ahl - you can see it everywhere, you only have to search a little) is making #MMIW a major issue of their march for the anniversary of the Women's March.

https://www.facebook.com/NativeDailyN...

Sascha wrote: "Ester wrote: "In reality, what does culturalism mean?"

Good question. I think "culture" is also a word which has different meanings and it remains a bit nebulous when you don't explain what your d..."

The far-right definitely has a different definition of culture than say, sociology. I'd say their definition is much more nebulous than a scientific one.

Ester wrote: "MeerderWörter wrote: "Emma wrote: "MeerderWörter wrote: "Ester wrote: "Florian wrote: "Sascha wrote: "@ Florian & Lewis:

Could you please explain to me what you mean by making a difference between..."

Culturaliism is not a term that is used. But since the new racism is based on culture mostly, it would be culturalism... it's just not a word used, or in that sense.

Winston wrote: "Two additional points to add o the discussion

Physical [and likely nutritional] actions can change the body's production of certain hormones. For example, in young men, working out can change test..."

Hm yes, I agree... But why are we still castrating little intersex children then, making them dependent on HRT for the rest of their lives, normally with hormones that are typically associated with the "other" sex and then do nothing anymore? Not look how they are doing in any way at all?

I know what you mean, I really do, it's just... it doesn't happen.
As you talk about transgender children starting HRT earlier than it was practice in the past... we don't have any data about that, but we didn't even have the chance to collect data...
I just say that not everything is done the way it should be.