This article is disheartening because of the complete ignorance of feminism and women’s studies. The author obviously has no clue, and this is a very typical response from ‘christian men’ because it seems to be that a lot of religious males try to justify their boners and lust by women’s clothing.

This article completely pisses me off because you are speaking to women and girls that are striving for attention because it is how they are socialized to be. Girls are taught at a young age to gain male’s attention, or to keep occupied with being ‘beautiful’ and concerned with ‘weight, celebrities, and fashion’.

This article is about the sad, disgusting truth that many women live their lives for male approval. Do you think I am angry at these women? At first I was, but being angry isn’t a solution.

Have you looked at any advertisements, television shows, or movies lately?

Must have not, because most women/girls featured are always, always beautiful, and often scantily clad. Ever heard of the term ‘male gaze’?

Feminism for me is a gender issue, not a sexual freedom/struggle. It’s using gender to discriminate. It’s putting women as the ‘weaker sex’, or second class to males. Take a look at our nation’s officeholders and you know what I mean.

Do not, NOT, direct this towards feminists. You obviously don’t know many.

So, all in all, nice try placing the blame. which according to the bible, man was the first to do it. :)

That said, pimp and hoe parties are definitely degrading towards women, but so is working in the service industry where they make better tips for scantier clothing.

Women will never be able to stop men from viewing them as sexual objects, because we men tend to objectify, and the only thing that stops me (sometimes) is God.

As a women I think feminism on a whole has been taken out of hand. There are places in this world where women are truly persecuted and have little to no equal rights (if ANY rights). In western society though, I’m not sure I understand all the complaining from feminists. I do believe in equal opportunity and rights for women, but [in the majority of western society] is their really that much keeping a smart ambitious woman from doing what a smart ambitious man can do? I don’t know about other women, but I personally do not experience this oppression towards women on a regular basis.

Thanks, Amy. :)

I will admit, I am no expert on this issue, but it seems even when we use the word “feminist” it encompasses a mass of people who at times completely disagree with each other. I think in the end, feminism is about the fair treatment of women. It is about respect. To try and solve this issue in six paragraphs, boiling it down to an issue of clothing, placing the blame on half of the human population seems laughable.

I think in the end we can’t shift our focus off “the evils of men”. The fact that unfair treatment of women exists is because men AND women are inherently sinful. This issue won’t be resolved in a short over simplified article.

-Jer

On the other hand, I googled ‘”feminists against” pornography’ and ALL the top results were feminist groups against all forms of censorship and FOR pornography, which seems to validate the author’s point – it seems quite self-contradictory to me to be railing against men looking at women as objects and yet railing for the forms of media which have no small influence in causing men to view them that way.

So in any case it’s an interesting discussion which makes it even more disappointing to me that the author had to use hyperbolic language to get his point across.

I know that I can only speak for myself, so I will. Feminism for me means that I will fight be given the same opportunities, treated with the same respect, and paid equally to my male counterparts. Yes this is a very simplistic explanation, but for this discussion it is sufficient.

Clothing and modesty are a personal decision. What I deem as an attractive and modest outfit, might be seen as something else depending on the person. Example: a black turtleneck, below the knee leather skirt, black opaque tights with boots. Am I showing any skin whatsoever in this ensemble? No. Could someone viewing this outfit deem it as immodest, perhaps if they view leather clothing as “slutty” or even viewing the color black as being too sexy.

As I said, it’s completely personal. To be frank, I dress more adventurously now that I am married with a daughter, than I ever dressed before. Does that mean I have abandon all thoughts of modesty?- No. It does mean that I dress myself in a way that I am content with and one that (hopefully) makes my husband proud.

I do want to state that I am horrified more by the use of derogatory words toward women in this article, than I am the ignorance of the writer. He’s obviously never lived a day in the life of a women. I believe that he should have chosen his argument a bit more precisely. His words are dangerous and more hurtful than I hope he intended them to be.

I really appreciate Al’s insight that liberty doesn’t breed responsability and we should not be surprized at either gender disapointing those who seek good…

is it insensative of me to use the word “breed” in a discusion on femenism?

To me, feminism is a very broad term. In my studies of feminist theories, it seems that it most concerned with inequalities of power of all sorts, especially where they are based on socially constructed divisions, such as race and gender roles.

In response to the specific article, as a man I can understand the frustration. In Romans, Paul admonishes us to not cause others to stumble, which has definite application here. I don’t think that women bear total responsibility here, and I agree that the situation is a product of the fall.