[user104658]

Originally Posted by Livia

I just watched The Big Question on TV, and one of the discussions was about feminism. And what struck me was this: Women have been oppressed by men for millennia. Things are changing now... we've come an awful long way. And now... men want to join in the discussion. Not just join in, they want to lead the discussion. While I watched the men on the show tell women what feminism is and how they should deal with it, I wondered what would happen if it was a discussion about racial oppression, and there were a bunch of white males in the front row saying, look, we understand your feelings of oppression... We know how that feels... we're going to help... and this is what we're going to do...

Have the women who are part of the discussion today been oppressed by the men who are part of the discussion today for millenia? This part always confuses me; this idea that "women" and "men" are some sort of cohesive sentient entity with a memory stretching back beyond the lifespan of the individual. It doesn't really make sense.

That's not to say the millenia of oppression doesn't still affect society today; it does in many ways and that's something that society as a whole needs to address. But the fact is, many (most) of the men who are part of the discussion today have never oppressed anyone in any way, and so the idea that they should be excluded from the discussion of achieving equality is ludicrous and entirely misses the point. Of course men shouldn't lead or dominate the discussion, but nor should women lead or dominate the discussion... And anyone who thinks they should, frankly, is not seeking equality.