Isn’t “Woman’s Studies” just thinly veiled institutionalized bigotry for the most part?

Question

It seems that women’s studies consist mainly of people sitting around discussing & writing about how much “all men suck”. If all one is doing is cataloging, and reinforcing, women’s misconceptions & complaints about the male gender, then how is this studying “women”?

Doesn’t it seem hypocritical, and ineffective, to try to combat one form of bigotry (misogyny) by reinforcing another type instead (misandry)?

Thoughts? Observations? Want to call me names? Go ahead.

Answer 1

Yes I agree. It gives feminism a bad name. Blaming men for every problem they have is negative. Perhaps  a more positive approach is called for by feminists

Answer 2

You are, of course, quite correct, and an additional level of proof of your being correct is that those who disagree cannot debate your views, but instead, they attack your personhood.

Thats called Ad Hominem Alone, and in my view, it is the last refuge of the *whipped* scoundrel.

Its noteworthy that feminists demanded the end of the ONLY men's studies program in Canada. Its noteworthy because they cannot stand the free debate of the topic, so they try to censor or attack any dissent from their sexist views. Why is there a Violence Against Women Act in the US, yet none for the majority of victims of violence, namely men ? The answer is the sexism that IS feminism. And, so on.

For the record, humanism is the philosophy that is concerned with all peoples, to suggest that feminism is any less sexist than any other birth-group-only lobby groups is just idiotic nonsense.

"Whats the difference between NOW and the KKK ? The KKK has a dress code. "

Answer 3

Hi FatMan oops sorry FratMan, obviously you no nothing whatsoever about Women's Studies or you'd no that men rarely feature in our lessons except when we are researching murders, rapists, wife beaters and almost every other type of violent criminal. when women get together to do these studies the subject of men don't feature  unless, guess what.....a woman in that group has been a victim of violent crime committed by a man!

Answer 4

I don't think that is true, but I've never been to a Women's Studies class.

Answer 5

"It seems that women’s studies consist mainly of people sitting around discussing & writing about how much “all men suck”.

No, it's not, actually. Try broadening your mind.

Answer 6

So you took a Women's Studies class in order to find out where the movement came from in order to form this opinion? Or is it something you felt was misandrist therefore looking down your nose at it without seeing what it was about? If you don't know, how can you ask such a question aimed at making women angry? I guess your name says what you studied there, Fratman.

What about African American Studies? Does that promote bigotry too?

Those are my thoughts. I think your assumption is simply biased and untrue.

EDIT - I didn't attack you or call you names, and how do you know about the African American studies classes don't talk about white people sucking? You base your answers purely on sexist assumptions, and cannot provide any evidence that Women's Studies classes have girls sitting around saying how much men suck shows ignorance on your part.

You asked for our thoughts and got 'em. "it seems" is this based on your narrow-minded "outside-looking-in" observation - not on fact.

Did you spend a semester in a class? Reading a textbook isn't the same as what you are accusing the class of representing.

Answer 7

I've never heard of men being put down in these classes. Mainly, they talk about women's contribution to history, which for the most part, gets overlooked or downplayed in most history books.

Answer 8

Although many books read in women's studies courses may be anti-male, that doesn't necessarily mean that the classes are intended to be anti-male. In my junior-year United States History class, we read things written by anti-suffragists and read things written by those who opposed abolition. We also read things by black separatists and people in the back-to-Africa movement. Part of the social sciences is looking at ALL perspectives, even the really extreme ones.

There IS a big debate about the concept of "women's studies," but it tends to focus on a different issue: shouldn't ALL studies be women's studies, because women have existed in virtually all fields other than sperm donation? And yet, some argue, since they ARE being overlooked, it might be better to have a women's studies so that SOME people, at least, learn about women.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that woman's studies reinforces misandry. It certainly discusses misandrist views, but doesn't necessarily condone them, though some individuals in women's studies might.

Answer 9

I've only taken a couple of women's studies classes, but we didn't bash men at all. We talked about issues that affect women, yeah, including rape and domestic abuse. But the whole "all men are violent rapists" attitude was nowhere to be seen. It was more from an angle of the physical and emotional effects of rape, etc... not "men are dangerous and you need to be scared of them".

Are you basing these assertations on women's studies classes that you have taken yourself? If so, it sounds like you had an incompetent teacher. I would have complained to the department head if my experiences had been like that. If you have not taken any women's studies classes and are just basing this on speculation, then maybe it's time you did. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Answer 10

Tell me where the "all men suck" section is -  because I missed it.    What I do see are all of the "questions" you missed that are denigrating women.

There is no one on here who called you names or insulted you- it is you who did that.    However-  I do doubt the graduate degree.

Answer 11

Actually you have to study in most such courses, take notes, go to lectures and pass exams. It is usually history based upon women's accomplishments, which are not mentioned so much in history books.

Sometimes it is about men's misconceptions of women...not "how all men suck"...why don't you sneak into a lecture sometime and listen in...it is interesting, but not a cake walk course either.

Answer 12

I did a "Women's Studies" course 14 years ago.  At this time, it was a closed course, and pretty much matched your description, and I had to apply using anti-discrimination legislation to do the course.  In the end the university woke up and three men enrolled.  

We were openly castigated for "stifling the integrity of the course" because we allegedly prevented free and frank discussion.  We refuted this of course.  In the end we were good friends with the women doing the course, and bitter enemies of the proffessor (a petty man-hater), but we passed.

I believe the courses will have changed, but it was my greatest exposure to misandry on a large scale.  Mind you, it did not turn me into a misogynist or a woman hater.  I think the students were far more open minded than the professor, and this redeemed the course in my mind.  

Does it substitute misandry for misogyny?  Quite probably, but it depends on the course.  The course I did was quite anti-male, and I am sure it was toned down from what it would have been had it been an all-girl course.  I remain close friends with several members of the class, and they were appreciative that we did not allow it to generate into a cess-pit of misandry.

Answer 13

You are correct.

Answer 14

If women were equals, there would be no reason for Womens Studies. But they are not.

Womens Studies helps people see how women are marginalized, and learn how to change that experience for the better.

It isn't about hating women. It's about women learning to appreciate themselves and their history in a culture that doesn't.

If women react as you described, it is because they are angry about being treated as second class citizens. It has nothing to do with you, unless you are a person who treats them as second class citizens,

You asked a good question, especially in this of all years.  It would have been better without the baiting and provocation at the end. It made me think you just wanted an argument.

Answer 15

Women's Studies courses are mostly history- chronicling the accomplishments of women like Elizabeth Blackwell, Molly Yard, Mother Jones, and Dorothea Dix, who have been left out of "traditional" textbooks.

Women's Studies courses do not state that "all men suck."  In fact, men are rarely mentioned.  That's because Women's Studies courses are about WOMEN.

The idea that Women's Studies inherently involves bigotry is as ludicrous as if one claimed American Literature to be bigoted because it doesn't cover Shakespeare.