Do you consider yourself a feminist? (A question for both women and men.)

[delalluvia]

It's been a long time since I've seen the movie, but as I recall, wasn't the only man Thelma ever killed was a would be rapist, only held back at gunpoint?

[delalluvia]

er, no.  Health care benefits are not available to anyone in need in the USA.  Health care is available ONLY on an emergency basis to indigent (i.e. penniless) persons ONLY at public hospitals, in the case of critical need.  Not at doctor's offices.  Not at dentist's offices, and not at private hospitals.  So the BEST that could be said is that for the poor, and the uninsured without funds, only limited emergency care is available.  To say that a person without health insurance and without money can walk into a doctor's office and receive care in the USA - is out of touch.

Yep.  If you're a single person, with no job, no income, not pregnant (I and another female friend of mine were college students) and needing specialized medical care, you can go jump off a bridge as far as government health care is concerned.  You don't qualify for any medical care.

[delalluvia]

Ever heard of the ER? Most universities have student infirmaries. I do not know what you mean by "specialized" medical care, but even if one is insured, one is not guaranteed "special" procedures.

Yes, I have head of them.  The university medical staff is who recommended I see a neurologist because my painful nerve disorder was not something they had the facilities to test for, diagnose and treat.

That's where my medical treatment stopped.

My friend had to have a stone removed.  The university hospital couldn't treat that either. 

IE, a single person, if not a student, is supposed to get a job and buy insurance either directly or via his/her employer. Can we spell "responsibility"?

Yep.  However, I wasn't employed.  Hence, full-time college student.  And also you do realize there is a waiting period for insurance when you first get employed *and* insurance companies are pretty chintzy about not insuring pre-existing conditions.

[serious crayons]

IE, a single person, if not a student, is supposed to get a job and buy insurance either directly or via his/her employer. Can we spell "responsibility"?

Can we spell "8.1 percent unemployment"?

[mariez]

 I was baffled into silence as to why a women's rights organization would ever see Thelma and Louise from the eponymous film as some sort of heroines of the feminist movement.  They were KILLERS for Chrissakes.  I walked away from the NOW recruitment table and have stayed away from them ever since.  

OMG, don't even get me started on "Thelma and Louise."  I detested that movie, and was appalled and perplexed that so many people considered it a "feminist" movie.  Not only did it glorify violence and vigilantism (blowing up the tanker truck was such a nice touch - ugh), there was also that repulsive scene where the Geena Davis character (I don't remember who was who) is just glowing one morning all because, as Susan Sarandon points out to her - she's finally been "f*cked good and proper" and by Brad Pitt, of course!   Which, naturally, is just one of the reasons why they both believe it was all worth it and don't regret anything  - right before the drive off a cliff and kill themselves.  Good God.  These are role models? 

I don't see feminism and NOW as synonymous at all. I've always been a feminist, never belonged to NOW.

I've never been a member of NOW either, and I also don't see them as synonymous with feminism.  Throughout the years I've heard many things said by women who also consider themselves feminists that I don't agree with, but, to me, that's part of being a feminist - thinking for myself and not just following any group mentality. 

Marie

[BelAir]

Hmnn... I wish there was an "other" answer on the poll.

I'll read others answers, and then maybe elaborate more.

Though in general, I'd go with other, because well, I don't feel I really know what I would be saying "yes" or "no" to...

[delalluvia]

OMG, don't even get me started on "Thelma and Louise."  I detested that movie, and was appalled and perplexed that so many people considered it a "feminist" movie.  Not only did it glorify violence and vigilantism (blowing up the tanker truck was such a nice touch - ugh), there was also that repulsive scene where the Geena Davis character (I don't remember who was who) is just glowing one morning all because, as Susan Sarandon points out to her - she's finally been "f*cked good and proper" and by Brad Pitt, of course!   Which, naturally, is just one of the reasons why they both believe it was all worth it and don't regret anything  - right before the drive off a cliff and kill themselves.  Good God.  These are role models? 

Just different POVs.  Other women saw them as glorifying the right to stand up and defend themselves, to not be intimidated and to actually enjoy their own bodies and right to their own sexual enjoyment, just to find out at the end, that the world had no place for women such as themselves.  So they killed themselves.

IMO it was a really sad movie - and typical of movies about women who stand up and out from the norm, they have to die.

[louisev]

OMG, don't even get me started on "Thelma and Louise."  I detested that movie, and was appalled and perplexed that so many people considered it a "feminist" movie.  Not only did it glorify violence and vigilantism (blowing up the tanker truck was such a nice touch - ugh), there was also that repulsive scene where the Geena Davis character (I don't remember who was who) is just glowing one morning all because, as Susan Sarandon points out to her - she's finally been "f*cked good and proper" and by Brad Pitt, of course!   Which, naturally, is just one of the reasons why they both believe it was all worth it and don't regret anything  - right before the drive off a cliff and kill themselves.  Good God.  These are role models? 


I've never been a member of NOW either, and I also don't see them as synonymous with feminism.  Throughout the years I've heard many things said by women who also consider themselves feminists that I don't agree with, but, to me, that's part of being a feminist - thinking for myself and not just following any group mentality. 

Marie

well, unfortunately for feminism, N.O.W. is "the largest feminist organization in the USA" and gets the most press and the most attention.  So when they made Thelma and Louise their official mascots, they were speaking for the largest organized body of women's rights activists in this country.  And I didn't want to have anything to do with them.

[mariez]

Just different POVs.  Other women saw them as glorifying the right to stand up and defend themselves, to not be intimidated and to actually enjoy their own bodies and right to their own sexual enjoyment, just to find out at the end, that the world had no place for women such as themselves.  So they killed themselves.

Yeah, I get that is what I was "supposed" to take away from the movie - but I didn't.  IMO, there are a lot better ways to show women standing up for themselves and enjoying their own bodies.  And I disagree with the notion depicted that there is no place for women who stand up for themselves or who enjoy their own bodies and the right to their own sexual enjoyment.  I do both - and I'm very much alive. 

well, unfortunately for feminism, N.O.W. is "the largest feminist organization in the USA" and gets the most press and the most attention.  So when they made Thelma and Louise their official mascots, they were speaking for the largest organized body of women's rights activists in this country.  And I didn't want to have anything to do with them.

Yes, I can definitely understand that, Louise.  But does N.O.W. get as much press or attention as it used to?  I don't think it does.

[delalluvia]

Yeah, I get that is what I was "supposed" to take away from the movie - but I didn't.  IMO, there are a lot better ways to show women standing up for themselves and enjoying their own bodies.  And I disagree with the notion depicted that there is no place for women who stand up for themselves or who enjoy their own bodies and the right to their own sexual enjoyment.  I do both - and I'm very much alive. 

Oh, I agree with you, but unfortunately the majority of the world is not Westernized, so it's still a pipe dream for most women.