Ramona: having children and cleaning house isn’t the point – I think you may be making this a straw man argument. I grew up a feminist (and still have a slight feminist side to me). Somehow people have this idea that if you’re against feminism, you’re all for taking away women’s jobs and keeping them in the house to bear children. Of course, some people do feel that way, but that is not the issue. The issue (in my opinion) whether or not you can accept there are actually differences between men and women that God made and glorify God in your sexuality. I’m out to be a career lady myself, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to put my head in the sand and believe feminism lies – feminism has done nothing to help exploited innocent women. I said I grew up feminist, and I continued that path until I realized denying the reality of there being two different genders was like saying the Emperor has no clothes; everyone knows it so just say it! This is not about confining women to domestic life, and turning this discussion into that is really just a straw man argument.

For example, the amount of sado-masochisticism one can find on porn sites is ridiculous! Because the decisions these women make (who are rising in number) young men are getting confused notions about what to expect from women and what to be attracted to (not to mention the message their receiving about how cool porn is and how exciting exploitation of women is). If young men are influenced in such a way that they reward the women who are self-exploitative with compliments (consider “Sexy Chick” by Akon, a song in which the singer, a male, seems to imagine that “all the girls here want to be” the girl that can’t be “compared to your neighborhood whore” and who he doesn’t know how to describe “without being disrespectful”) and with love, then of course our society is going to experience a steady rise in the exploitation of women. Every human being, both male and female, desires these things: love and acceptance (compliments). (This is also how I would imagine how the failure of feminism could be both the faults of men and women.).

In the end, I think we could all agree, everything we are falls within a pre-determined boundary set by society. For example, I wear jeans to school every day because – well, what else am I supposed to wear? A kilt?! This is why it’s reasonable to suggest that even though these self-exploiting women believe that they are making their own decision to exploit themselves, this may not even really be the case. The majority of people aren’t given to question the deeply rooted impressions and influences of the society they grow up in. An even greater majority is less given to consider their actions through a diversity of REAL perspectives. By “REAL” I mean that what the average person calls “considering what other’s may think”, he typically thinks only of what he imagines he himself would think were another person to behave in a similar way. Personally, I suspect that these women, like the majority, fail to consider their action through a male perspective. They fail to ask themselves this question: Is what I’m doing really good for me (only 17% of pornography practices safe sex)? Will men (half the population) really respect me for this? Do men respect what they objectify? Is what I’m doing helpful or harmful to society (encouraging pedophilia, rape, sexual molestation and harrassment)?

It is not in human nature to desire to be anything other than what we are rewarded for. Therefore, so long as men are encouraged to dominate and not to submit, the typical man WILL NOT be happy with anything that makes him feel inferior. That’s why I think these feminist who rave about female empowerment through the exploitation of our sexuality have their heads up their butt. As long as the majority of pornography features the rape, abuse or submissive position of the female sex, our bodies WILL NOT be empowering (because of the dominant association of our bodies with positions of inferiority).

In conclusion, I’m convinced that until feminist issues are more fully addressed in either the media or educational systems of young girls, any claim that these women truly responsible for their own descisions, I feel is inadequate. Does this mean I agree with Patrice A. Oppliger.