Womens activism

[PorcelainLark]

But in fact, when I've tested the water in the past the response I've received from other women isn't that girls aren't sexual, I think most mothers know only too well that their daughters are, it's that being too sexual too young is harmful because it's distracting from school and education and leads towards teenage pregnancies. I have a friend who told me how when she was young, 11 onwards, she was very sexual and slept around quite a bit, including with adults. She had a thing for soldiers and lived not far from a base and so even at 11 or 12 she was out having sex with guys from the base. She didn't do well at school and didn't go to university, she puts that down to spending her youth chasing guys. As a mother she is worried about her daughter doing the same, chasing guys. She isn't worried about pedophiles abusing her daughter, she's worried about her daughter chasing boys and men for sex because it feels good, guys being guys and taking advantage of what's on offer, and her daughter throwing her future away like she feels she did.

This is why I think sex-positive feminism is in the interests of MAPs. In both the sense that slut-shaming has a big understated role in how heterosexual intergenerational relationships are judged and in the sense that the idea MAPs can't interact with children without abusing them is part of rape culture. The answer isn't stop women and girls from being in situations where they might have sex, it's making contraceptives more accessible and not stigmatizing women and girls for enjoying sex. To be fair, I've never heard a feminist complain about sex education. Although feminists have been some of the harshest opponents of MAPs, our goals and values are ultimately more similar than different.

[JGHeaven]

This is why I think sex-positive feminism is in the interests of MAPs. In both the sense that slut-shaming has a big understated role in how heterosexual intergenerational relationships are judged and in the sense that the idea MAPs can't interact with children without abusing them is part of rape culture. The answer isn't stop women and girls from being in situations where they might have sex, it's making contraceptives more accessible and not stigmatizing women and girls for enjoying sex. To be fair, I've never heard a feminist complain about sex education. Although feminists have been some of the harshest opponents of MAPs, our goals and values are ultimately more similar than different.

Yes, I think this is right and it is possible to build bridges with feminism, but carefully.

Feminism as a movement isn't the same for everyone.
Feminism started from a place of not just injustice but from a position of having no voice. Women didn't have the same rights as men, but also had no voice to fix it. The Suffragette movement formed precisely because women had no voice and so the only way they felt they could be heard was through acts of violence and destruction of property. It wasn't popular but over time it was effective and as soon as women started to have a voice, they used it.

Feminism today means different things to different people.
There are some at the extreme end who have very deep distrust of men and see anything that comes from men as poison. A male map talking to such a feminist is only saying what they're saying so they can rape and abuse young females.
Most are not at the extreme end but many would still be suspicious of motives and frankly women have become so used to being very protective of other females, especially young females because the world has been patriarchal for so long.

But, the message that women and girls should have more rights, be-empowered, should be able to say no or yes, it's their bodies their choice, should not feel slut shamed or pressed into any mold, these are deeply understood and respected arguments by not only feminists but most women and girls. This isn't an argument to say maps should choose yes or no, it isn't an argument to give more power to any men, it's about removing stigma from females and empowering females.

I think it is possible to create a case that feminists and women can respect and support. If it's giving more choice, more rights, more self-care to females then it is a good thing.

I have multiple times had girls nights out where we've talked drunkenly about our younger days, who fancied who at school, that hunky teacher, our friend who "got off with such and such". I had one friend who claimed she slept with her friends dad because her friend was a bitch to her and one day she had the chance to sleep which she took. Not the right reason to do it and it and when we've been reminiscing about our school days and that has come out, not a single person has made any comment that he was at fault, the only negative comments was that she shouldn't have done that to her friend.

I do think people are smart enough to see beyond the silly anti-map hysteria. There are messages that can land, to feminists and other groups. It shouldn't be about pushing map agenda's all the time, it can be about pushing other agenda's that just happen to progress things for maps a a byproduct.