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

MeerderWörter’s comments from the Our Shared Shelf group.

Ross wrote: "Perhaps an example will help. in the past it was common for women to get to late in life before they knew they were lesbian, this effected men as well Oscar wild being an example. But around the ti..."

I agree here.
Wow, I didn't know that about Boston. Nice, we always knew how to help ourselves:)

Lucy wrote: "Ashna wrote: "MeerderWörter wrote: "Welcome to the island of misfit toys!
~Sam, The Perks of Being A Wallflower


Welcome to the OSS family Cordelia!"

You can't even imagine how hard i'm smiling r..."

Well, I consider everyone here family!

Wow, there's been a bit of discussing here:) Nice!

I also wonder what the two issues here actually have in common. When we think about it, sure, bisexuality awareness grew very much in Europe (and North America) in the last decades. And I'd say that this is because feminism has questioned a lot of social norms, and therefore it became more accepted.
But does being bisexual come from feminism? I don't think so. Bisexual people must have been around since the beginning of humankind, or at least very much longer than feminism in Europe. I say Europe here because I don't know how Indigenous Peoples around the globe treat (sorry that I wrote in the past tense before, I didn't intend to erase them) that form of sexuality. I believe it is very much possible that there were societies where this was an accepted form of sexuality, not like in Christian-dominated Europe, where only heterosexuality was socially accepted.


While feminism is a choice, because you can choose to stand for gender equality and help to further it, sexuality is not!
This belief leads to very harmful practices, such as conversion therapy in the US, which is considered to be torture by the UN! You cannot change your sexuality! Sure, you can have sex with everyone, when we just think of the act of it, but that's not the same as a loving, caring, passionate relationship. (In whichever form that relationship might be - whether it's a same-sex-relationship or not).

I think the Kinsey showed one important issue:
Your sexual practices don't have to align with your sexual orientation, and it is a bit difficult to make distinctions between them. Are you bisexual because you had one encounter with the same sex but normally only have intercourse with the other sex? Or you have more than one, where do we draw the line? The Kinsey report was definitely ground-breaking:)

When it comes to intersectional feminism, I'd say the different sections had to kinda fight their way into it. But intersectional feminism definitely helped to raise awareness and even further the rights of marginalized groups, one of them being bisexual people.

Laure wrote: "Hey Lieke, I understand your decision - this thread makes me uncomfortable when it shows back on my OSS newsletter.
I understand why we keep it on OSS, but maybe it would time to lock it/archive i..."

I really need to second this. It makes me uncomfortable too to see it pop up in my notifications.

Keith wrote: "MeerderWörter wrote: "The dualism of masculine and feminine traits is over for me, although there still are many people who believe in it. Emma said it, we all have both feminine and masculine trai..."

Laure wrote: "I see a shift in the "expected traits" for masculine and feminine, and I like the way it's going. But the shift is in my opinion not leading to more equality so far. Women are now supposed to be "s..."

I really agree with both of you, Laure and Keith. It's a long way to go, but then we really need to do our bit, so that the generations after us can build upon what we have achieved so far.

Okay, I'm gonna write in here later, let me just first fulfill my other duties as a student.

Welcome to the island of misfit toys!
~Sam, The Perks of Being A Wallflower


Welcome to the OSS family Cordelia!

Monical wrote: "Hi all, just finished a book by Hida Viloria entitled "Born Both" which I found very honest. Ze is one of the founding members (I believe) of OII-US. Also, to the group, thanks for the links to Emi..."

I actually plan to read Hida Viloria's book "Born both"!
And so many others! Betsy Driver has something up her sleeves too, but I'm afraid we still need to wait a little bit for that one. (It's going to be awesome tho, therefore I really am patient waiting!)

And look what I came across:
Now that makes me VERY happy!
http://www.newswise.com/articles/term...
Makes me wonder again who came up with that totally offensive term in the first place!

Now, I can actually answer that question: What is feminism for you? with all the writing that is in here already.


Tiffany: "Feminism, to me, represents equality and respect, and the knowledge that stereotypes are of an ignorant mindset. All people should treat all people as equals, with respect."

Emma:
"To me, feminism is equality - between all genders, between all races of people, between all economic/social levels, between all sexualities - between everybody."

valerie:):
"Whatever we do, it shouldn't matter on the gender. There shouldn't be things that people call "guy stuff" or "girl stuff.""



The only characteristics I need to add are variations in sex characteristics and disabilities.

valerie :) wrote: "I'm going to be honest, feminism for me is equality for all women. I am still young and I haven't really learned or gone in depth on what the real meaning of feminism is. Maybe there isn't one true..."

There are different branches of feminism, and they see different oppressors and different solutions, but they all have in common to better the lives of women.

Haha!
Intersex people are intersexy:)

Ashna wrote: "Haha Meerder,it was indeed just an idea.I don't expect anybody to go anywhere to drop off little treats.And that's the good thing about them,you can go book ninjaing anywhere in the world.
:D"

Yes, that's the good thing. And I don't expect anyone to know the distances within Austria and Germany, which can be quite long.

Be sure that I'll be a book ninja in the future!

Kaivallya wrote: "I agree. We do need media that goes beyond the test- that isn't limited by the test parameters. I'm sure there are movies or stories that are feminist that don't pass.
In terms of TV shows, I haven..."

Some Harry Potter movies, as mentioned earlier, don't pass the test and yet I'd say each one of the movies is feminist to some degrees.

I actually think more choice in how to express our gender helps us to have a more equal world. If we do not need to fear rejection, then this is definitely a good thing.

The dualism of masculine and feminine traits is over for me, although there still are many people who believe in it. Emma said it, we all have both feminine and masculine traits, to varying degrees, and it would only hinder us to not show them, to hide them.

When we as a society accept our differences in our masculine and feminine behaviour, and all the people who identify outside of the gender binary, then this is definitely a way to more equality I think. It's not directly linked, in my opinion, but it is something that follows naturally. When our societies treat humans as equal, we do not bother about the gender expression of the members of the society.

The reactions were mostly positive, weren't they? So that's definitely a good thing because it shows us that people who do not identify with the gender and sex binary are definitely more accepted than they were maybe even a few years ago.

Georgios wrote: "MeerderWörter wrote: "The issue is that men have the audacity in the 21st century to even consider such a bill and their governor supports it"

No it's not MEN that have the audacity in the 21st ce..."

Georgios, I never said what you quote me with. That was MaryJane.

But let's just break this down a little bit:
I totally agree with you that it is men AND women who support such a bill. I'm also against an "us vs them" polarisation when it comes to women-men, because we really don't need it anymore.
What you are talking about is the financial situation. And yes, money rules our society to a really great extent, so of course a woman who is a millionaire has a higher status than a man who is poor. Do I think this is okay? No, I don't. We shouldn't be judged by how much money we have, that is actually really superficial.

And I haven't finished Handmaid's Tale yet, so I can't say much to that. Except that I hate a society as it is described in "The Handmaid's Tale".
And how come you say women and men are equal? Homosexual people aren't allowed to marry here in Austria, trans people still have to fight for the surgeries that they want and intersex people against the surgeries that they don't want. So please, think about it twice, when you say the sexes are equal in Europe. Because they aren't.

Again, I see way more than just women and men, but then you quoted me wrong anyways, so I just think why do I even write this post at all.

And I'm not against birth control. Birth control is so important.

Ross wrote: "progress on the big and small screen good to see. "

That is definitely something good.
And yes, it is a minimum, I totally agree here with Adam, therefore I think every movie should pass this test.

Gabby wrote: "Really glad to see a post on this. Although I myself am not intersex I am very interested in the topic from bot a scientific and sociological point of view as well as the moral questions it raises...."

I actually study sociology and well, intersexyness is definitely a thing we need to find out more about, because so far I haven't seen much really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16gQD...,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtjVq...
and the intersexperiences trailer from Emily

ARE MY FAVOURITES! Watch them, these girls slay it!

MaryJane wrote: "Thank you, MeerderWorter for the comment. We aren't equal in our society. As far as polarization, that isn't the issue. The issue is that men have the audacity in the 21st century to even consider ..."

I never bother with Umlaute that much... Meerder is totally fine:)

Intersex stories not surgeries
~Pidgeon Pagonis

Surgeries only with fully informed consent:
Emily Quinn talks about that in one of her videos:
https://www.youtube.com/emilord

Georgios wrote: "MaryJane wrote: "We are equal to men and we must keep reminding them that we won't settle for anything less. "

The fact that women are equal to men goes without saying and its been the case since ..."

Georgios, women aren't equal to men in our society.