One disappointing thing, though, is that I didn’t notice a single anti-rape image. Rape is not only an extremely serious issue, but one that might unite all women (and all men of good will) in recognising that something needs to be done to address the power imbalance between the sexes.

WHAT

… yeah. I know it’s disturbing but it renders me insensible with laughter just looking at it. There’s so much going ON in it! It looks like someone’s GCSE Design & Technology coursework!

It wins the prize for “weirdest alt-text description we have yet had to figure out”.

I agree that plenty of men (the majority of men, I think) would benefit from reducing sexual inequality. But there are winners and losers with any change, and when it comes to reducing inequality (of any kind) those with most to lose are rich and powerful. It’s unsurprising if corporate-controlled websites present feminism in ways with which we feel uncomfortable.

I’d prefer to talk of reducing inequality rather that achieving equality. I’m not sure that issues around sexual inequality can be confronted separately from the wider inequalities in society… they are all functions of the same patriarchy. Under Blair and Brown, Britain became an increasingly unequal place… and Cameron’s Britain seems to me an unpromising place to seek equality. We live in a society where some men (and I imagine that they are all men) receive bonuses several times the amount of money that will pass through my hands in my entire lifetime.

I know! I’d never really thought about it before but now I’ve seen it I can’t unsee it, like that duck/rabbit optical illusion.

Yeah, I think Flickr is better because it’s mostly still about people sharing pictures of their experiences rather than struggling to represent a concept, hence the scarcity of Attack Feminists and the large numbers of people giving presentations. Revolution by Powerpoint! :-)

You’re quite right – I guess equality would mean the end of privilege, so the aims of feminism are a threat to masculine power. But there are plenty of men who would benefit from gender equality too, though that’s pretty rarely voiced.

But yeah, these pictures make it look like the GOAL of feminism is to humiliate and attack men. I can’t tell whether that’s what people really think or if that’s just a convenient way to portray it, probably a bit of both. Either way, when these violent pictures stack up it starts looking a wee bit hysterical!

I’m seeing a lot of the attitude which was around the Alpha Male posts we made a while back ( http://www.badreputation.org.uk/2010/12/16/big-dog/ ), where men (usually white American men) retaliated with extreme bile if a woman displayed ANY power over them at all. In that mindset, women talking about equality = forcing men at gunpoint.

I don’t know, the over-reaction looks a bit psychotic to me. It’s an unpleasant reminder of how far we have to go, even Europe/the US.