I think it's a bit disingenuous to act like the (first) world, in general (especially the Internet), is anti-feminist. The huge majority of the first world, and the huge majority of Internet users, are fairly liberal-leaning equalists.
It's not accurate to paint a picture that the world is anti-feminist, people try to hide from being feminists, and anybody who's associated with or accused of feminism gets threatened and run off because the world's just so darn anti-feminist. The world is actually very, very pro-feminist. Especially on the Internet.
However, because the internet is anonymous, it's also where anti-feminists go. Primarily because they have to be anonymous. The world forces them into the dark corners of the Internet. If you're anti-feminist in the real world, you're shunned. People lose jobs and marriages and kids over perceived misogyny. In fact, the Internet is one of the only places you find anti-feminists in any significant numbers.
The world today is very, very pro-feminist, and it's not accurate to paint a picture to the contrary.
I agree we've made progress with combating sexism, but we are far from being called "pro-feminist". @sussanna and I both gave personal experiences about working as a woman in the tech industry. A google search or a look through her comments section is riddled with other similar stories.
Women do get harassed and it's happening a lot in the tech workplace. Women do get harassed for posting about feminism online. I get horrible PMs all the time on my various sites.
These descriptions are accurate. It's what we live on a day-to-day life. We posted them here so you'd know about them. Maybe, even be compelled to do something about them (or at least be more aware of your own behaviors)
Please, don't silence us with "we're actually very pro-feminist now" Look at these comments above. Look at our experiences. We're not.
Just this year, over 10,000 people in the U.S. have been murdered. And we still have four and a half months to go. And that's just one country.
I'd still say that the huge majority of the world is anti-murder. Even if I read a post on Steemit detailing a family's grief over a particular murder.
Yes, sexism exists, but the world is very, very, very anti-sexist. At least the first world, anyway.
And I reiterate that the internet is one of the only places you're going to find huge numbers of anti-feminists. Because they're anonymous. People who espouse anti-feminist viewpoints in the real world get shunned. That's why they've ended up marginalized on the internet.
Then how come they're in both my and @sussanna 's workplaces (and SO many other women's in the tech industry)? They're not being shunned. We're posting to draw attention to our specific issue in our specific industry because it's something that impacts a lot of women.
Especially after this year, in the United States at least, I don't even think we can say we're anti-murder. The sentiments I've seen expressed over race and power this year just can't let me believe that.
I reiterate, I find huge numbers of anti-feminists in my industry. Other women around the world do too. Hopefully people seeing that we have these experiences on steem will cause people to think about their actions, or even better, take action.
I guess it really depends on where you think it's appropriate to draw the victory line.
You seem to feel that until we reach this theoretical idea of zero sexism anywhere, there's always a battle to be fought.
My position is that your battle is already won, and the last vestiges of your bitter enemies are sniping at you from the anonymous shadows of the internet and a few remaining clusters in isolated industries and backward places in the world. While out here in the larger real world, pretty much everybody laughs at and shuns actual sexism. Which is about as good as it's going to get. The world's on your side, you have a good job in a good industry despite being a woman, and you're spending a lot of energy being angry at the last 1% of the holdouts who aren't ever going to go away.
Replacing the hot-button issue of sexism with something like murder, what you're essentially saying is:
"If the world is generally anti-murder, like you say, then why do some people, like me and some of the people I know, still get murdered?"
I don't see a single person, even here under the anonymity of the internet, saying, "I agree with the people in your workplace and the assumptions they make. I don't think women can cut in in the tech industry because they're women and women can't do that kind of work effectively."
Essentially, the very worst things people are saying are: 1. Suck it up. Your experiences are the exception in a generally pro-female world; and 2. A lot of so-called feminists are downright crazy and giving the rest of you a bad name.
Nobody is saying, "Those behaviors that these women describe are just fine! Everyone knows that women can't do tech anyway!"
@archwinger:
Why can't we draw attention to an issue that would make the world more pro-feminist?
People in the real world do say this. All the time. That's why I wanted to draw attention to this specific issue.
If you just came to say "suck it up" then, no, I won't. It's not ok for women in tech to be treated this way.