So one radical sect represents the entire feminist movement?
I made it quite clear in my post that I was criticizing third-wave feminism and explaining why some people would associate the actions of this film studio and this director as being indicative of another takeover by people of that sect of feminism.
...but the reactions from some third-wave feminists have been absolutely despicable...
This hypersensitivity and intolerance of outside views from the more extreme parts of the American left wing is one of the things that has made me disassociate with those people.
I have been invoked in both the gaming and atheist communities on YouTube and have seen similar techniques used by inter-sectional feminists in those communities to hijack those movements, silence dissent, and to split those groups.
This legacy of intolerance is another reason why some people are angry about the change to Ghostbusters, as they may see it, rightly or wrongly, as toxic third-wave feminism invading yet another thing that they love and enjoy.
Note how all of the references that I made were to third-wave feminism, inter-sectional feminism, and the extreme left wing. This is the sect that is most powerful in academia, politics, and which is guiding the conversation in many media outlets. That is why I focused on them.
Additionally, the reason why I mentioned that specific person was because in your original response to pokeplayer984 you basically wrote off the film having anything to do with feminists because the writer and director were both men.
I love how people blame 'feminists' for this, even though the director is a guy, and one of the writers is a guy.
That is why I pointed out to you that the director was actually a major third-wave feminist, and thus the connection people were making was not spurious.
I find it quite frustrating that many people associate any criticism of feminism or any group of feminists as being an attack against the entire movement. Everyone I have ever met, with the exception of a few religious extremists, have been supportive of suffrage and equal rights for women (making them complaint with first-wave feminism) and equal opportunity in the workplace and society at large (making them compliant with second-wave feminism). It is the quasi-Marxist depiction of women as an oppressed class, and all men as holders of privilege, which is a common feature in third-wave feminism, that most people object to. In failing to see people as individuals, but rather as a class of people, they throw away the backbone of liberal Western society. This is why many of them have resorted to the suppression of free speech through extreme forms of political correctness and the suppression of meritocracy through the use of gender quotas. When a group doesn't value the individual, they also don't value individual rights.
Many of the people who protest against feminists online are actually protesting against this particular portion of the feminist movement. Just like how many people in the Men's Rights Movement are actually arguing for fairness in family law and the reform of alimony laws, which currently are heavily biased against men. If the modern feminist movement were seen as addressing the issues affecting men as well as women, and seen as being supportive of free speech and meritocracy, then this backlash would not be as large as it is. Personally I call myself a humanist, as that makes my stand quite clear, whereas if I called myself an MRA or a feminist then it would be more ambiguous. I want equal legal rights for everyone, and equal opportunity for everyone to succeed or fail on their own merits.
EDIT: Just as an aside, I'm not defending radical feminists- death threats are juvenile at best, and horrible regardless of who they come from. My main point is that every group has its radicals, and I really wish that people would quit pigeonholing entire groups into the molds created by these radical sects. Radicals are damaging to the agenda of any group that they come from, be it christians, gamers, muslims, feminists, etc., and any rational members of any one of these groups can tell you that the radicals do not represent them. So lets just all squelch the trolls and protect quality cinema, without background political agendas! Yay!
I agree wholeheartedly, and thanks for the clarification.
However, for better or worse, the general public often judges entire groups based upon what they are perceived to actually practice. Currently in the US we have affirmative action in favor of women in academia despite the fact that there have been more women in universities than men for over 30 years (
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/educat...c9e1_story.html ), we have boys falling behind girls in primary education benchmarks (
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/0...rm-academically ), we have alimony laws which are outdated, we have family law which strongly favors giving custody to women, we have men who have to sign up for Selective Service but not the women, we have men which are far more likely to die from violence on a per capita basis than women (
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevent..._key_fact_6.pdf ), and we have men who make up 40% of domestic violence victims (
http://www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/ and
http://www.medicaldaily.com/domestic-viole...ring-it-284682) despite the domestic violence laws and most shelters focusing on women, but yet attempts to address these imbalances are typically derailed by feminist organizations. As long as these organizations continue to be seen as focusing mainly on women's issues as opposed to actually trying to achieve fairness for both sexes, they will probably retain the lukewarm reputations that they have obtained. As the saying goes, "Change must come from within."
Addendum: I am sorry if I cam across as a bit too aggressive, by the way, I just wanted to indicate why some people have reacted the way that they have, and why some people have issues with feminism as it is practiced by some. I think we are in agreement about the dangers of extremists in any group, and the relative merits of the trailer to this film.
