Feminism going integral: Check out this awesome presentation

posted by Eivind on October 29, 2013, at 5:19 pm

I’m from Norway. Norway is part of the political-geographical region called Scandinavia. And Scandinavia is the region in the world where, arguably, feminism has had the greatest impact. It’s institutionalized, politicized and embedded in the politically correct currents of society. If you’re not a feminist, you’re dodgy, not to be trusted. Especially by the liberal media (which is most media in Scandinavia).

In Scandinavia, and particularly in Sweden, the desire to focus on the lives and challenges of men is met with an outcry. Because men, supposedly, have been privileged since the dawn of time and deserve no more attention. People who have the nerve to go there and imply that it may be more complicated than that risk being bullied, ostracized and, in more extreme cases (again, mainly in Sweden), compared to terrorists.

So as you may gather, I’m not a big fan of the status quo of feminism. I’m not a fan of any movement that bullies, attacks and shames decent people. Especially not when the perpetrators of said activities claim to be the victims of them. It’s all a bit tangled up. Large parts of the feminist movement have turned dark.

Though I haven’t lost hope that feminism as a movement may have valuable things to bring to the table. Which is why I decided to attend a talk yesterday at The Integral Center in Boulder, Colorado, where I currently live. The presentation was Lauren Barnett’s heartchild. Lauren is an active member of the Integral/Authentic World community here and an all-around awesome woman in my short experience with her.

Lauren is also a feminist. But the difference with her is that the brand of feminism she believes in is “Integral feminism”. In the presentation below, Lauren presents the outlines of this new form of feminism, one that takes a larger view and includes more perspectives – including that of men. What she shared with us totally moved me. I almost got teary-eyed at one point.

If you have issues with feminism, watching the presentation below may redeem it in your eyes. Feminists like Lauren make for a better world.

Enjoy!